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Elisabeth was the fifth child and second daughter of her parents' sixteen children, of whom eight survived infancy.[1][2] During her childhood, she lived with her older sister Anna and younger brother Matthias in a pavilion in the gardens of the newly built Stallburg, part of the Hofburg Palace complex in Vienna. They enjoyed a privileged and secluded childhood, and were raised in the Roman Catholic religion. Her father Maximilian visited her often and Elisabeth seems to have been his favorite child. She resembled him, not only in appearance but also in character: Elisabeth was just as intelligent and charming as her father.

With her flawless white skin, long blond hair and perfect physique, she was considered one of the great beauties of the era. She was also regarded as demure, pious, and warmhearted but naive and intensely innocent because of her sheltered upbringing. Still, she was intellectually talented. Elisabeth's brothers were educated by the Flemish writer and diplomat Ogier Ghiselin de Busbecq. The curious princess soon joined and even overshadowed them in their studies. Her mother Maria personally supervised the religious education of her daughters, and from her early childhood Elisabeth was impressed by her namesake Saint Elisabeth of Hungary and reportedly took her as a model.

Very early, around 1559, a match between Elisabeth and the Duke of Orléans, the future King Charles IX of France was suggested.[3] In 1562, the Maréchal de Vieilleville, a member of the French delegation sent to Vienna, after seeing the eight-year-old princess, exclaimed: "Your Majesty, this is the Queen of France!". Although Vieilleville was not entitled to make an offer, Elisabeth's grandfather, the Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand I, appeared interested: gifts were exchanged and contacts initiated between the two courts — but no one bothered to teach French to the young princess.

Only in 1569, after the failure of marriage plans with Frederick II of Denmark and Sebastian of Portugal, the French offer was seriously considered. Catherine de' Medici, mother of Charles IX, and the power behind the throne, initially preferred Elisabeth's elder sister Anna; but the latter was already chosen as the new wife of her uncle King Philip II of Spain.[4] Catherine de' Medici finally agreed to the marriage with the younger Elisabeth, as France absolutely needed a Catholic marriage in order to combat the Protestant party, the Huguenots, as well as to cement an alliance between the Habsburg and the French Crown.

Elisabeth was first married by proxy on 22 October 1570 in the cathedral of Speyer, her uncle, Archduke Ferdinand of Further Austria-Tyrol, standing as proxy for Charles IX. After long celebrations, on 4 November she left Austria accompanied by high-ranking German dignitaries, including the Archbishop-Elector of Trier. Because of bad weather upon arrival in France, where constant rain had made roads impassable, the decision was taken to have the official wedding celebrated in the small border town of Mézières, in Champagne, (now Charleville-Mézières). Before reaching her destination, Elisabeth stayed in Sedan, where her husband's two younger brothers Henry, Duke of Anjou and François, Duke of Alençon, greeted her. Curious about his future wife, Charles dressed himself as a soldier and went to Sedan, where he mixed in the crowd of courtiers to observe her incognito, while his brother Henry was showing her the architecture of the fortress of Sedan.[5] Charles was reportedly delighted (enchanté) with the sight of her.

King Charles IX of France and Archduchess Elisabeth of Austria were formally married on 26 November 1570 in Mézières; Charles, Cardinal de Bourbon, performed the ceremony. The occasion was celebrated with immense pomp and extravagance, despite the dire state of French finances. The new queen's wedding gown was of cloth of silver sprinkled with pearls, and her tiara was studded with pearls, emeralds, diamonds, sapphires and rubies.

Elisabeth as queen of France, ca. 1574.

Because of the difficult journey and the cold weather, at the beginning of 1571 Elisabeth fell ill. Since the wedding took place far away from Paris, it was only in the spring that the German-French alliance was celebrated once again with magnificent feasts in the capital. On 25 March 1571, Elisabeth was consecrated as Queen of France by the Archbishop of Reims at the Basilica of St Denis. The new queen officially entered Paris four days later, on 29 March.[6] Then, she disappeared from public life.

Elisabeth was so delighted about her husband that she, to general amusement, did not hesitate to kiss him in front of others. However, Charles IX already had a long-term mistress, Marie Touchet, who famously quoted: "The German girl doesn't scare me" (L'Allemande ne me fait pas peur);[7] after a brief infatuation with his teenage bride, Charles IX soon returned to his mistress. However, the royal couple had a warm and supportive relationship. Charles realised that the liberal ways of the French Court might shock Elisabeth and, along with his mother, made an effort to shield her from its excesses. In addition, Catherine de' Medici made sure that her new daughter-in-law was kept out of the affairs of state.

Elisabeth, shocked with the licentious ways of the French court, dedicated her time to embroidery work, reading and especially the practice of charitable and pious works. She continued to hear mass twice a day, and was appalled at how little respect was shown for religion by the supposedly Catholic courtiers. Her one controversial act was to make a point of rejecting the attentions of Protestant courtiers and politicians by refusing the Huguenot leader, Gaspard II de Coligny the permission to kiss her hand when he paid homage to the royal family.[8]

Despite her strong opposition to Protestantism in France, she was horrified when she received news of the Saint Bartholomew's Day Massacre begun on 24 August 1572, and which continued for several days afterwards, when thousands of French Protestants were slaughtered in Paris.[9] According to Brantôme, the following morning, shocked upon learning from someone in her entourage about the massacre, she asked if her husband knew. Told that he not only knew about it, but was its initiator, exclaimed: "Oh, my God! What is this? Who are these counselors who gave him such advice? My God, I ask of you to forgive him..." Then she asked for her book of hours and began to pray.[10] During those days, Elisabeth was given petitions to speak for the innocent, and she managed to assure a promise to spare the lives of the foreign (especially numerous German) Protestants. Quite advanced in pregnancy at the time, (she was seven months pregnant), she did not publicly rejoice at so many deaths - like other prominent Catholics did.

By the time of her birth, the health of Marie Elisabeth's father was deteriorating rapidly, and after long suffering, in which Elisabeth rendered him silent support and prayed for his recovery, Charles IX died on 30 May 1574; Elisabeth wept "tears so tender, and so secret," according to Brantôme, at his bedside.[11]

After having completed the 40 days mourning period, Elisabeth - now called la Reine blanche (the White Queen), as, by custom, white clothing was worn by the widow of the deceased King of France after the initial mourning period - was compelled by her father to return to Vienna. Shortly before, Emperor Maximilian II made the proposition of a new marriage for her, this time with her deceased husband's brother and successor, King Henry III of France; however, she, as well as Henry, firmly refused. By letters patent dated 21 November 1575, Henry III gave her the County of La Marche as her dower;[12] In addition, she received the title of Duchess of Berry and in 1577 she obtained the duchies of Auvergne and Bourbon in exchange.[13] On 28 August 1575, Elisabeth visited her almost three-year-old daughter in Amboise for the last time, and on 5 December she left Paris, without her little Marie Elisabeth, a Daughter of France (Fille de France), who remained in the care of her grandmother, Queen Mother Catherine de' Medici. Elisabeth would never see her daughter, the young Madame de France, again.

Back in Vienna, Elisabeth lived at first in the residence of her childhood, Stallburg. On 12 October 1576, her beloved father Maximilian II died, and her brother Rudolf II succeeded him as Holy Roman Emperor. Her last great tragedy came on 2 April 1578, when her five-and-half-year-old daughter Marie Elisabeth died. When a new proposal of marriage was made to her, this time from King Philip II of Spain after the death of his wife Anna in 1580, she again refused; according to Brantôme, she replied to the offer with the famous phrase: "The Queens of France do not remarry" (Les Reines de France ne se remarient point), once said by Blanche of Navarre, widow of King Philip VI.

In France, where Busbecq managed her properties, Elisabeth built a Jesuit college in Bourges, although she never received the monetary revenues from her domains.

In early 1580, Elisabeth bought some lands near Stallburg and founded the Convent of Poor Clares Mary, Queen of Angels (Klarissinnenkloster Maria, Königin der Engel), also known as the Queen's Monastery (Königinkloster). Elisabeth henceforth devoted her life to following the example of her convent's holy patron in the exercise of piety, relief of the poor, and health care. Even impoverished daughters of the nobility found her support. She also financed the restoration of the All Saints Chapel in Hradčany, Prague, which had been destroyed in a fire in 1541.

Elisabeth acquired several relics for her convent. In 1588, she obtained the consent of her brother, Maximilian, as Coadjutor of the Teutonic Order, to have some of the bones of Saint Elisabeth of Hungary, placed in Marburg, sent to her.

After her departure from France, Elisabeth maintained a regular correspondence with her sister-in-law Queen Margaret of Navarre, and when the latter was ostracised from the rest of the royal family, she made half of the revenues she received from France available to her. Brantôme relates that on one occasion, Elisabeth sent to Margaret two books (now lost) written by her: a devotional work (Sur la parole de Dieu) and a historical work (Sur les événements considérables qui arrivèrent en France de son temps).

Elisabeth died on 22 January 1592 victim of pleurisy, and was buried under a simple marble slab in the church of her convent. About her death, Brantôme wrote:

When she died, the Empress [...] (her mother) said [...] "El mejor de nos otros es muerto" (The best of us is dead).[14]

In her will, Elizabeth donated money not only to the poor and sick, but also included funds for prayers for her late husband in the convent's church. Her Spanish, German, French, Italian and Latin books from her library, a number of works of the Jesuit preacher Georg Scherer, a book of prophecies of the French astrologer Nostradamus written in 1571, and the tragedy of Antigone of the ancient Greek poet Sophocles were left to her brother, Emperor Rudolf II. Her wedding ring was given to another brother Ernest.

1.
List of French consorts
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This is a list of the women who have been queens consort or empresses consort of the French monarchy. All monarchs of France were male, although some women have governed France as regents,53 women were married to French monarchs,49 queens and three empresses. Ingeborg of Denmark and Anne of Brittany were each more than once. Marie Josephine Louise of Savoy was queen de jure during the Republican and Imperial periods, thus, the wives of these three kings were queens consort of Navarre, as well as France. With the death of Charles IV, however, Navarre passed out of the hands of the French kings until 1589, upon Henrys succession, his wife, Margaret of France, who was already queen consort of Navarre, also became queen consort of France. The title King of Navarre was reassumed with the Restoration of 1814–15, and dropped with the Revolution of 1830, many French consorts acted as regents for their husbands or children, during their minorities. Joan the Lame, who governed for her husband Philip VI whilst he was fighting. Isabeau of Bavaria, during the insanity of her husband Charles VI, during which she vied for power with her husbands uncles, owing to the inequality of social status, she and the King did not marry openly. No written proof of the marriage is extant, but that it took place is nevertheless certain and it is important to remember that Madame de Maintenon was never queen of France, simply a royal consort. Some sources refer to Margaret of Anjou as Queen of France and she was briefly recognized only in English-controlled territories of France. Kings of France family tree List of French monarchs Joy Law, Fleur de lys, The kings, ISBN 978-0-07-036695-4 Rene de La Croix, duc de Castries, The Lives of the Kings & Queens of France. ISBN 0-394-50734-7 Elsie Thornton-Cook, Royal Line of France, The Story of the Kings and Queens of France

2.
Coronation
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The ceremony can also be conducted for the monarchs consort, either simultaneously with the monarch or as a separate event. A ceremony without the placement of a crown on the head is known as an enthronement. Coronations are still observed in the United Kingdom, Tonga, in addition to investing the monarch with symbols of state, Western-style coronations have often traditionally involve anointing with holy oil, or chrism as it is often called. Wherever a ruler is anointed in this way, as in Great Britain and Tonga, some other lands use bathing or cleansing rites, the drinking of a sacred beverage, or other religious practices to achieve a comparable effect. Such acts symbolise the granting of divine favour to the monarch within the relevant spiritual-religious paradigm of the country, in the past, concepts of royalty, coronation and deity were often inexorably linked. Rome promulgated the practice of worship, in Medieval Europe. Coronations were once a direct expression of these alleged connections. Thus, coronations have often been discarded altogether or altered to reflect the nature of the states in which they are held. However, some monarchies still choose to retain an overtly religious dimension to their accession rituals, others have adopted simpler enthronement or inauguration ceremonies, or even no ceremony at all. In non-Christian states, coronation rites evolved from a variety of sources, buddhism, for instance, influenced the coronation rituals of Thailand, Cambodia and Bhutan, while Hindu elements played a significant role in Nepalese rites. The ceremonies used in modern Egypt, Malaysia, Brunei and Iran were shaped by Islam, Coronations, in one form or another, have existed since ancient times. Egyptian records show coronation scenes, such as that of Seti I in 1290 BC, judeo-Christian scriptures testify to particular rites associated with the conferring of kingship, the most detailed accounts of which are found in II Kings 11,12 and II Chronicles 23,11. Following the assumption of the diadem by Constantine, Roman and Byzantine emperors continued to wear it as the symbol of their authority. Although no specific coronation ceremony was observed at first, one gradually evolved over the following century, the emperor Julian was hoisted upon a shield and crowned with a gold necklace provided by one of his standard-bearers, he later wore a jewel-studded diadem. Later emperors were crowned and acclaimed in a manner, until the momentous decision was taken to permit the Patriarch of Constantinople to physically place the crown on the emperors head. Historians debate when exactly this first took place, but the precedent was established by the reign of Leo II. This ritual included recitation of prayers by the Byzantine prelate over the crown, after this event, according to the Catholic Encyclopedia, the ecclesiastical element in the coronation ceremonial rapidly develop. This was usually performed three times, following this, the king was given a spear, and a diadem wrought of silk or linen was bound around his forehead as a token of regal authority

3.
Vienna
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Vienna is the capital and largest city of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austrias primary city, with a population of about 1.8 million, and its cultural, economic and it is the 7th-largest city by population within city limits in the European Union. Today, it has the second largest number of German speakers after Berlin, Vienna is host to many major international organizations, including the United Nations and OPEC. The city is located in the part of Austria and is close to the borders of the Czech Republic, Slovakia. These regions work together in a European Centrope border region, along with nearby Bratislava, Vienna forms a metropolitan region with 3 million inhabitants. In 2001, the city centre was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site, apart from being regarded as the City of Music because of its musical legacy, Vienna is also said to be The City of Dreams because it was home to the worlds first psycho-analyst – Sigmund Freud. The citys roots lie in early Celtic and Roman settlements that transformed into a Medieval and Baroque city and it is well known for having played an essential role as a leading European music centre, from the great age of Viennese Classicism through the early part of the 20th century. The historic centre of Vienna is rich in architectural ensembles, including Baroque castles and gardens, Vienna is known for its high quality of life. In a 2005 study of 127 world cities, the Economist Intelligence Unit ranked the city first for the worlds most liveable cities, between 2011 and 2015, Vienna was ranked second, behind Melbourne, Australia. Monocles 2015 Quality of Life Survey ranked Vienna second on a list of the top 25 cities in the world to make a base within, the UN-Habitat has classified Vienna as being the most prosperous city in the world in 2012/2013. Vienna regularly hosts urban planning conferences and is used as a case study by urban planners. Between 2005 and 2010, Vienna was the worlds number-one destination for international congresses and it attracts over 3.7 million tourists a year. The English name Vienna is borrowed from the homonymous Italian version of the name or the French Vienne. The etymology of the name is still subject to scholarly dispute. Some claim that the name comes from Vedunia, meaning forest stream, which produced the Old High German Uuenia. A variant of this Celtic name could be preserved in the Czech and Slovak names of the city, the name of the city in Hungarian, Serbo-Croatian and Ottoman Turkish has a different, probably Slavonic origin, and originally referred to an Avar fort in the area. Slovene-speakers call the city Dunaj, which in other Central European Slavic languages means the Danube River, evidence has been found of continuous habitation since 500 BC, when the site of Vienna on the Danube River was settled by the Celts. In 15 BC, the Romans fortified the city they called Vindobona to guard the empire against Germanic tribes to the north

4.
Austria
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Austria, officially the Republic of Austria, is a federal republic and a landlocked country of over 8.7 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Hungary and Slovakia to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, the territory of Austria covers 83,879 km2. The terrain is mountainous, lying within the Alps, only 32% of the country is below 500 m. The majority of the population speaks local Bavarian dialects of German as their native language, other local official languages are Hungarian, Burgenland Croatian, and Slovene. The origins of modern-day Austria date back to the time of the Habsburg dynasty, from the time of the Reformation, many northern German princes, resenting the authority of the Emperor, used Protestantism as a flag of rebellion. Following Napoleons defeat, Prussia emerged as Austrias chief competitor for rule of a greater Germany, Austrias defeat by Prussia at the Battle of Königgrätz, during the Austro-Prussian War of 1866, cleared the way for Prussia to assert control over the rest of Germany. In 1867, the empire was reformed into Austria-Hungary, Austria was thus the first to go to war in the July Crisis, which would ultimately escalate into World War I. The First Austrian Republic was established in 1919, in 1938 Nazi Germany annexed Austria in the Anschluss. This lasted until the end of World War II in 1945, after which Germany was occupied by the Allies, in 1955, the Austrian State Treaty re-established Austria as a sovereign state, ending the occupation. In the same year, the Austrian Parliament created the Declaration of Neutrality which declared that the Second Austrian Republic would become permanently neutral, today, Austria is a parliamentary representative democracy comprising nine federal states. The capital and largest city, with a population exceeding 1.7 million, is Vienna, other major urban areas of Austria include Graz, Linz, Salzburg and Innsbruck. Austria is one of the richest countries in the world, with a nominal per capita GDP of $43,724, the country has developed a high standard of living and in 2014 was ranked 21st in the world for its Human Development Index. Austria has been a member of the United Nations since 1955, joined the European Union in 1995, Austria also signed the Schengen Agreement in 1995, and adopted the euro currency in 1999. The German name for Austria, Österreich, meant eastern realm in Old High German, and is cognate with the word Ostarrîchi and this word is probably a translation of Medieval Latin Marchia orientalis into a local dialect. Austria was a prefecture of Bavaria created in 976, the word Austria is a Latinisation of the German name and was first recorded in the 12th century. Accordingly, Norig would essentially mean the same as Ostarrîchi and Österreich, the Celtic name was eventually Latinised to Noricum after the Romans conquered the area that encloses most of modern-day Austria, around 15 BC. Noricum later became a Roman province in the mid-first century AD, heers hypothesis is not accepted by linguists. Settled in ancient times, the Central European land that is now Austria was occupied in pre-Roman times by various Celtic tribes, the Celtic kingdom of Noricum was later claimed by the Roman Empire and made a province

5.
St. Stephen's Cathedral, Vienna
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St. Stephens Cathedral is the mother church of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Vienna and the seat of the Archbishop of Vienna, Christoph Cardinal Schönborn, OP. Stephens Cathedral.5 metres below the surface, which were carbon-dated to the 4th century and this discovery suggests that an even older religious building on this site predated the St. Although the first structure was completed in 1160, major reconstruction and expansion lasted until 1511, from 1230 to 1245, the initial Romanesque structure was extended westward, the present-day west wall and Romanesque towers date from this period. The anniversary of this second consecration is commemorated each year by a ringing of the Pummerin bell for three minutes in the evening. In 1304, King Albert I ordered a Gothic three-nave choir to be constructed east of the church, under his son Duke Albert II, work continued on the Albertine choir, which was consecrated in 1340 on the 77th anniversary of the previous consecration. The middle nave is dedicated to St. Stephen and All Saints, while the north and south nave, are dedicated to St. Mary. Duke Rudolf IV, the Founder, Albert IIs son, expanded the choir again to increase the religious clout of Vienna, on 7 April 1359, Rudolf IV laid the cornerstone for a westward Gothic extension of the Albertine choir in the vicinity of the present south tower. This expansion would eventually encapsulate the entirety of the old church, and in 1430, the south tower was completed in 1433, and vaulting of the nave took place from 1446 to 1474. The foundation for a tower was laid in 1450, and construction began under master Lorenz Spenning. In 1722 during the reign of Karl VI, Pope Innocent XIII elevated the see to an archbishopric, on 12 April 1945, civilian looters lit fires in nearby shops as Soviet Army troops entered the city. The winds carried the fire to the cathedral where it damaged the roof. Fortunately, protective brick shells built around the pulpit, Frederick IIIs tomb, however, the Rollinger choir stalls, carved in 1487, could not be saved. Rebuilding began immediately, with a limited reopening 12 December 1948, built of limestone, the cathedral is 107 metres long,40 metres wide, and 136 metres tall at its highest point. Its construction lasted 65 years, from 1368 to 1433 and this emblem replaced earlier crescent and the six-pointed star emblem. The original emblem, as well as a couple of later ones, in 1578, the tower-stump was augmented with a Renaissance cap, nicknamed the water tower top by the Viennese. The tower now stands at 68 metres tall, roughly half the height of the south tower, the name for the towers derives from the fact that they were constructed from the rubble of old structures built by the Romans during their occupation of the area. The Roman Towers, together with the Giants Door, are the oldest parts of the church, the glory of St. Stephens Cathedral is its ornately patterned, richly coloured roof,111 metres long, and covered by 230,000 glazed tiles. Above the choir on the side of the building the tiles form a mosaic of the double-headed eagle that is symbolic of the empire ruled from Vienna by the Habsburg dynasty

6.
Charles IX of France
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Charles IX was a monarch of the House of Valois who ruled as King of France from 1560 until his death. He ascended the throne of France upon the death of his brother Francis II, after decades of tension, war broke out between Protestants and Catholics after the massacre of Vassy in 1562. This event, known as the St. Bartholomews Day Massacre, was a significant blow to the Huguenot movement, Charles sought to take advantage of the disarray of the Huguenots by ordering the Siege of La Rochelle, but was unable to take the Protestant stronghold. He died without male issue in 1574 and was succeeded by his brother Henry III. He was born Charles Maximilian, third son of King Henry II of France and Catherine de Medici, in the royal chateau of Saint-Germain-en-Laye. Styled since birth as Duke of Angoulême, he was created Duke of Orléans after the death of his older brother Louis, his parents second son, on 14 May 1564, Charles was presented the Order of the Garter by Henry Carey. His father died in 1559, and was succeeded by his elder brother, after Franciss short rule, the ten-year-old Charles was immediately proclaimed king on 5 December 1560. When Francis II died, the Privy Council appointed his mother, Catherine de Medici, as governor of France, with sweeping powers, on 15 May 1561, Charles was consecrated in the cathedral at Reims. Antoine of Bourbon, himself in line to the French throne, Charles reign was dominated by the French Wars of Religion, which pitted various factions against each other. Queen Catherine, though nominally a Catholic, initially tried to steer a course between the two factions, attempting to keep the peace and augment royal power. The regent Catherine tried to foster reconciliation at the Colloquy at Poissy and, after that failed, made several concessions to the Huguenots in the Edict of Saint-Germain in January 1562. Nonetheless, war broke out when some retainers of the House of Guise, hoping to avenge the attempt of Amboise, in return, the monarchy revoked the concessions given to the Huguenots. After the military leaders of both sides were killed or captured in battles at Rouen, Dreux, and Orléans. The war was followed by four years of an armed peace. After this victory, Charles declared his legal majority in August 1563, however, Catherine would continue to play a principal role in politics and often dominated her son. In March 1564, the King and his mother set out from Fontainebleau on a tour of France. Their tour spanned two years and brought them through Bar, Lyon, Salon-de-Provence, Carcassonne, Toulouse, Bayonne, La Rochelle, during this trip, Charles IX issued the Edict of Roussillon, which standardised 1 January as the first day of the year throughout France. War again broke out in 1567 after reports of iconoclasm in Flanders prompted Charles to support Catholics there

7.
Marie Elisabeth of Valois
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Marie Elisabeth of France, was a French princess and member of the House of Valois. She was the child of King Charles IX of France. Her maternal grandparents were Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor and Maria of Spain, born at the Louvre Palace, she was loved by her parents despite their inevitable disappointment that she was not the male heir for which they hoped. She was baptised almost four months later, on 2 February 1573 in Saint-Germain lAuxerrois and her other godmother and namesake was her maternal grandmother, the Holy Roman Empress, and her godfather was Emmanuel Philibert, Duke of Savoy. When Marie Elisabeth was less than two years old her father, King Charles IX, died and her uncle became Henry III of France. A year and a later, her mother returned to Vienna after Maximilian II repaid her dowry, while Marie Elisabeth, as a Daughter of France. They said their farewells at the Château dAmboise on 28 August 1575, pierre de Bourdeille, seigneur de Brantôme describes the princess in his writings. He reports that she was pretty but also intelligent and eager to learn. She memorised the names of her ancestors, both Valois and Hapsburg, and would tell everyone that she belonged to both of those great royal houses. Dynastically, Marie Elisabeth was important because she was the only Valois grandchild of Henry II and Catherine de Medici, thus her early death was an indirect contributory cause of at least some of the strife that followed during her uncle Henrys reign and after his death. Marie Elisabeth resided firstly in Amboise and Blois, but later she was moved to Paris and she died on 2 April 1578 at the Hôtel d’Anjou, apparently of frail health, aged only five and a half years. She was deeply mourned by the court, despite her youth, for her kindness, grace, eight days later, on 10 April, she was buried in a vault of the Basilica of Saint Denis, next to her father. On 17 October 1793 her tomb was desecrated by the revolutionaries, in 1817 she was reinterred in the Basilicas Ossuary. Jacqueline Boucher, Deux épouses et reines à la fin du XVIe siècle, Louise de Lorraine et Marguerite de France, Saint-Étienne, Publications of the University of Saint-Étienne,1995, p.60. In 1580, Queen Margaret of Navarre sold the Hôtel to her Chancellor Guy Du Faur, Seigneur de Pibrac, oraison funebre de treshaute et vertueuse princesse Marie Isabeau de France fille de Treshaut et Treschrestien Roy Charles IX, amateur de toute vertu, et protecteur de la Foy. Pronounced in Notre-Dame of Paris on 11 April 1578, by Arnaud Sorbia and this prayer was published in Lyon in 1578 by Rigaud Benoit, and is preceded by a dedicatory letter to Margaret de Valois, dated 16 April 1578. See Jacqueline Vons, Dédicace à l’Oraison funèbre et Tombeau de Marie-Élisabeth de France, documents posted on Cour de France. fr on 3 May 2010 as part of the research project La médecine à la cour de France

8.
Dynasty
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A dynasty is a sequence of rulers from the same family, usually in the context of a feudal or monarchical system but sometimes also appearing in elective republics. The dynastic family or lineage may be known as a house, historians periodize the histories of many sovereign states, such as Ancient Egypt, the Carolingian Empire and Imperial China, using a framework of successive dynasties. As such, the dynasty may be used to delimit the era during which the family reigned and to describe events, trends. The word dynasty itself is often dropped from such adjectival references, until the 19th century, it was taken for granted that a legitimate function of a monarch was to aggrandize his dynasty, that is, to increase the territory, wealth, and power of his family members. The longest-surviving dynasty in the world is the Imperial House of Japan, dynasties throughout the world have traditionally been reckoned patrilineally, such as under the Frankish Salic law. Succession through a daughter when permitted was considered to establish a new dynasty in her husbands ruling house, however, some states in Africa, determined descent matrilineally, while rulers have at other times adopted the name of their mothers dynasty when coming into her inheritance. It is also extended to unrelated people such as poets of the same school or various rosters of a single sports team. The word dynasty derives via Latin dynastia from Greek dynastéia, where it referred to power, dominion and it was the abstract noun of dynástēs, the agent noun of dynamis, power or ability, from dýnamai, to be able. A ruler in a dynasty is referred to as a dynast. For example, following his abdication, Edward VIII of the United Kingdom ceased to be a member of the House of Windsor. A dynastic marriage is one that complies with monarchical house law restrictions, the marriage of Willem-Alexander, Prince of Orange, to Máxima Zorreguieta in 2002 was dynastic, for example, and their eldest child is expected to inherit the Dutch crown eventually. But the marriage of his younger brother Prince Friso to Mabel Wisse Smit in 2003 lacked government support, thus Friso forfeited his place in the order of succession, lost his title as a Prince of the Netherlands, and left his children without dynastic rights. In historical and monarchist references to formerly reigning families, a dynast is a member who would have had succession rights, were the monarchys rules still in force. Even since abolition of the Austrian monarchy, Max and his descendants have not been considered the rightful pretenders by Austrian monarchists, nor have they claimed that position. The term dynast is sometimes used only to refer to descendants of a realms monarchs. The term can therefore describe overlapping but distinct sets of people, yet he is not a male-line member of the royal family, and is therefore not a dynast of the House of Windsor. Thus, in 1999 he requested and obtained permission from Elizabeth II to marry the Roman Catholic Princess Caroline of Monaco. Yet a clause of the English Act of Settlement 1701 remained in effect at that time and that exclusion, too, ceased to apply on 26 March 2015, with retroactive effect for those who had been dynasts prior to triggering it by marriage to a Catholic

9.
House of Habsburg
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The House of Habsburg, also called House of Hapsburg, or House of Austria, was one of the most influential royal houses of Europe. The throne of the Holy Roman Empire was continuously occupied by the Habsburgs between 1438 and 1740, from the sixteenth century, following the reign of Charles V, the dynasty was split between its Austrian and Spanish branches. Although they ruled distinct territories, they maintained close relations. The House takes its name from Habsburg Castle, a built in the 1020s in present-day Switzerland, in the canton of Aargau, by Count Radbot of Klettgau. His grandson Otto II was the first to take the name as his own. The House of Habsburg gathered dynastic momentum through the 11th, 12th, by 1276, Count Radbots seventh generation descendant Rudolph of Habsburg had moved the familys power base from Habsburg Castle to the Duchy of Austria. Rudolph had become King of Germany in 1273, and the dynasty of the House of Habsburg was truly entrenched in 1276 when Rudolph became ruler of Austria, which the Habsburgs ruled until 1918. A series of dynastic marriages enabled the family to expand its domains to include Burgundy, Spain and its colonial empire, Bohemia, Hungary. In the 16th century, the separated into the senior Habsburg Spain and the junior Habsburg Monarchy branches. The House of Habsburg became extinct in the 18th century, the senior Spanish branch ended upon the death of Charles II of Spain in 1700 and was replaced by the House of Bourbon. It was succeeded by the Vaudemont branch of the House of Lorraine, the new successor house styled itself formally as the House of Habsburg-Lorraine, although it was often referred to as simply the House of Habsburg. His grandson Radbot, Count of Habsburg founded the Habsburg Castle, the origins of the castles name, located in what is now the Swiss canton of Aargau, are uncertain. There is disagreement on whether the name is derived from the High German Habichtsburg, or from the Middle High German word hab/hap meaning ford, the first documented use of the name by the dynasty itself has been traced to the year 1108. The Habsburg Castle was the seat in the 11th, 12th and 13th centuries. The Habsburgs expanded their influence through arranged marriages and by gaining political privileges, in the 13th century, the house aimed its marriage policy at families in Upper Alsace and Swabia. They were also able to high positions in the church hierarchy for their members. Territorially, they often profited from the extinction of other families such as the House of Kyburg. By the second half of the 13th century, count Rudolph IV had become one of the most influential territorial lords in the area between the Vosges Mountains and Lake Constance

10.
Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor
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Maximilian II, a member of the Austrian House of Habsburg, was Holy Roman Emperor from 1564 until his death. He was crowned King of Bohemia in Prague on 14 May 1562, on 8 September 1563 he was crowned King of Hungary and Croatia in the Hungarian capital Pressburg. On 25 July 1564 he succeeded his father Ferdinand I as ruler of the Holy Roman Empire, maximilians rule was shaped by the confessionalization process after the 1555 Peace of Augsburg. Though a Habsburg and a Catholic, he approached the Lutheran Imperial estates with a view to overcome the denominational schism and he also was faced with the ongoing Ottoman–Habsburg wars and rising conflicts with his Habsburg Spain cousins. According to Fichtner, he failed to achieve his three major aims, rationalizing the government structure, unifying Christianity, and evicting the Turks from Hungary and he was named after his great-grandfather, Emperor Maximilian I. At the time of his birth, his father Ferdinand succeeded his brother-in-law King Louis II in the Kingdom of Bohemia, having spent his childhood years at his fatherss court in Innsbruck, Tyrol, he was educated principally in Italy. Among his teachers were humanist scholars like Kaspar Ursinus Velius and Georg Tannstetter, Maximilian also came in contact with the Lutheran teaching and early on corresponded with the Protestant prince Augustus of Saxony, suspiciously eyed by his Habsburg relatives. From the age of 17, he gained experience of warfare during the Italian War campaign of his uncle Charles V against King Francis I of France in 1544. On 13 September 1548 Emperor Charles V married Maximilian to Charless daughter Mary of Spain in the Castile residence of Valladolid, by the marriage his uncle intended to strengthen the ties with the Spanish branch of the Habsburgs, but also to consolidate his nephews Catholic faith. Maximilian temporarily acted as the representative in Spain, however not as stadtholder of the Habsburg Netherlands as he had hoped for. He returned to Germany in December 1550 in order to part in the discussion over the Imperial succession. However, Charles brother Ferdinand, who had already designated as the next occupant of the imperial throne. Maximilian sought the support of the German princes such as Duke Albert V of Bavaria and even contacted Protestant leaders like Maurice of Saxony and Duke Christoph of Württemberg. At length a compromise was reached, Philip was to succeed Ferdinand, the relationship between the two cousins was uneasy. While his cousin was reserved and shy, Maximilian was outgoing and his adherence to humanism and religious tolerance put him at odds with Philip who was more committed to the defence of the Catholic faith. Also, he was considered a promising commander, while Philip disliked war, nonetheless, the two remained committed to the unity of their dynasty. In Vienna, he had his Hofburg residence extended with the Renaissance Stallburg wing, the site of the later Spanish Riding School, the court held close ties to the University of Vienna and employed scholars like the botanist Carolus Clusius and the diplomat Ogier Ghiselin de Busbecq. Maximilians library curated by Hugo Blotius later became the nucleus of the Austrian National Library and he implemented the Roman School of composition with his court orchestra, however, his plans to win Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina as Kapellmeister foundered on financial reasons

11.
Maria of Spain
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Archduchess Maria of Austria was the spouse of Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor and King of Bohemia and Hungary. She was the daughter of Emperor Charles V and twice served as regent of Spain, Maria was born in Madrid to Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor and King of Spain, and Isabella of Portugal. She grew up mostly between Toledo and Valladolid with her siblings, Philip and Joanna and they built a strong family bond despite their fathers regular absences. Maria and her brother, Philip, shared similar strong personal views, on 15 September 1548, aged twenty, she married her first cousin Archduke Maximilian. The couple had sixteen children during the course of a twenty-eight-year marriage, while her father was occupied with German affairs, Maria and Maximilian acted as regents of Spain from 1548 to 1551 during the absence of Prince Philip. Maria stayed at the Spanish court until August 1551, and in 1552 the couple moved to live at the court of Maximilians father in Vienna. During another absence of her brother, now King Philip II, from 1558 to 1561, Maria was again regent of Spain and returned to Madrid during that time. After her return to Germany, her husband succeeded his father Ferdinand I as ruler of Germany, Bohemia and Hungary. Maria was a devout Catholic and frequently disagreed with her religiously ambiguous husband and she had great influence over her sons, the future emperors Rudolf and Matthias. Maria returned to Spain in 1582, taking her youngest surviving child Margaret with her, promised to marry Philip II of Spain, Margaret finally refused and took the veil as a Poor Clare. Commenting that she was happy to live in a country without heretics, Maria settled in the Convent of Las Descalzas Reales in Madrid. She was the patron of the noted Spanish composer Tomás Luis de Victoria, Maria exerted some influence together with Queen Margaret, the wife of Philip III of Spain. Margaret, the sister of the future Emperor Ferdinand II, would be one of three women at Philips court who would apply considerable influence over the king, Margaret continued to fight an ongoing battle with Lerma for influence until her death in 1611. Philip had an affectionate, close relationship with Margaret, and paid her additional attention after she bore him a son, also named Philip and they were successful, for example, in convincing Philip to provide financial support to Ferdinand from 1600 onwards. Philip steadily acquired other religious advisors

12.
Queen of France
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This is a list of the women who have been queens consort or empresses consort of the French monarchy. All monarchs of France were male, although some women have governed France as regents,53 women were married to French monarchs,49 queens and three empresses. Ingeborg of Denmark and Anne of Brittany were each more than once. Marie Josephine Louise of Savoy was queen de jure during the Republican and Imperial periods, thus, the wives of these three kings were queens consort of Navarre, as well as France. With the death of Charles IV, however, Navarre passed out of the hands of the French kings until 1589, upon Henrys succession, his wife, Margaret of France, who was already queen consort of Navarre, also became queen consort of France. The title King of Navarre was reassumed with the Restoration of 1814–15, and dropped with the Revolution of 1830, many French consorts acted as regents for their husbands or children, during their minorities. Joan the Lame, who governed for her husband Philip VI whilst he was fighting. Isabeau of Bavaria, during the insanity of her husband Charles VI, during which she vied for power with her husbands uncles, owing to the inequality of social status, she and the King did not marry openly. No written proof of the marriage is extant, but that it took place is nevertheless certain and it is important to remember that Madame de Maintenon was never queen of France, simply a royal consort. Some sources refer to Margaret of Anjou as Queen of France and she was briefly recognized only in English-controlled territories of France. Kings of France family tree List of French monarchs Joy Law, Fleur de lys, The kings, ISBN 978-0-07-036695-4 Rene de La Croix, duc de Castries, The Lives of the Kings & Queens of France. ISBN 0-394-50734-7 Elsie Thornton-Cook, Royal Line of France, The Story of the Kings and Queens of France

13.
Matthias, Holy Roman Emperor
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Matthias was Holy Roman Emperor from 1612, King of Hungary and Croatia from 1608 and King of Bohemia from 1611. He was a member of the House of Habsburg, Matthias was born in the Austrian capital of Vienna to Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor and Maria of Spain. Matthias married Archduchess Anna of Austria, daughter of his uncle Archduke Ferdinand II of Austria and their marriage did not produce surviving children. In 1578, Matthias was invited to the Netherlands by the States-General of the rebellious provinces, Matthias accepted the appointment, although the position was not recognized by his uncle, Philip II of Spain, the hereditary ruler of the provinces. He set down the rules for religious peace within most of the United Provinces and his work is noted in Article 13 of the 1579 Union of Utrecht, which established freedom of religion as a locally determined issue. Matthias continued as governor for the rebels until they deposed Philip II and declared full independence in 1581. In 1593 he was appointed governor of Austria by his brother and he formed a close association there with the Bishop of Vienna, Melchior Klesl, who later became his chief adviser. In 1605 Matthias forced the emperor to allow him to deal with the Hungarian Protestant rebels. The result was the Peace of Vienna of 1606, which guaranteed religious freedom in Hungary, in the same year Matthias was recognized as head of the House of Habsburg and as the future Holy Roman Emperor, as a result of Rudolfs illness. Allying himself with the estates of Hungary, Austria, and Moravia, Matthias forced his brother to rule of these lands to him in 1608. Matthiass army then held Rudolf prisoner in his castle in Prague, until 1611, Matthias had already been forced to grant religious concessions to Protestants in Austria and Moravia, as well as in Hungary, when he had allied with them against Rudolf. Matthias imprisoned Georg Keglević who was the Commander-in-chief, General, Vice-Ban of Croatia, Slavonia and Dalmatia and since 1602 Baron in Transylvania, the start of the Bohemian Protestant revolt in 1618 provoked Maximilian to imprison Klesl and revise his policies. Matthias, old and ailing, was unable to prevent a takeover by Maximilians faction, Ferdinand, who had already been crowned King of Bohemia and of Hungary, succeeded Matthias as Holy Roman Emperor. Matthias died in Vienna in 1619, names in other languages, German, Matthias Czech, Matyáš Croatian, Matija II. He was related to other king of Germany. Matthias Gate Media related to Matthias, Holy Roman Emperor at Wikimedia Commons

14.
Hofburg Palace
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The Hofburg is the former imperial palace in the centre of Vienna, Austria. It was the principal winter residence, as Schönbrunn Palace was the summer residence. Since 1279 the Hofburg area has been the seat of government. The Hofburg has been expanded over the centuries to various residences, the imperial chapel, the imperial library, the treasury, the Burgtheater, the Spanish Riding School. The palace faces the Heldenplatz ordered under the reign of Emperor Francis Joseph I, as part of what was planned to become the Kaiserforum, the name translates as Royal Castle, which denotes its origins when it was initially constructed during the Medieval Age. Initially constructed as the seat of the Dukes of Austria in the 13th century, from 1438 to 1583 and from 1612 to 1806, it was the seat of the Habsburg kings and emperors of the Holy Roman Empire, thereafter the seat of the Emperor of Austria until 1918. It has continued its role as the seat of the head of state and is used by the Austrian Federal President. It is also the permanent conference seat of the Organization for Security, presently the Burghauptmannschaft is under the jurisdiction of the Federal Ministry of Economy. In September 1958 parts of the Hofburg were opened to the public as a convention centre, in the first ten years the Burghauptmannschaft operated the convention centre, since 1969 a private company has been managing the international congress and events center. Every year the centre hosts about 300 to 350 events with around 300,000 to 320,000 guests. Among the events are conventions and meetings as well as banquets, trade fairs, concerts, the oldest sections originate from the 13th century and were primarily constructed by the last of the Babenbergers or by Ottakar II of Bohemia. Previously the castle of the Austrian rulers had been located on the square called Am Hof, the castle had a square-shaped outline with four turrets, surrounded by a moat and a drawbridge that led to the inside. These oldest sections of the castle form the Swiss Court. There situated are a chapel, from the 15th century, and the treasury, which holds, among other objects, the imperial insignia of the Holy Roman Empire. The Court Music Chapel is located in the Court Chapel and this is where the Vienna Boys Choir traditionally sing for Sunday mass. The appearance of the Swiss Court was given during the reign of Emperor Ferdinand I during the Renaissance, the entry Swiss Gate displays the many titles of Emperor Ferdinand I and the insignia of the Order of the Golden Fleece painted on the ceiling. An adjoining section of the Swiss Wing houses the Radetzky Apartments, next to the Knights Hall is the Guard Room, where the duty officer of the Household Guards kept watch over the emperor. The lower section of this wing once accommodated the imperial kitchen, although not physically connected to the rest of the complex, the imperial mews of the Hofburg were originally built as a residence for the then crown prince Maximilian II

15.
Roman Catholic
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The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church or the Universal Church, is the largest Christian church, with more than 1.28 billion members worldwide. As one of the oldest religious institutions in the world, it has played a prominent role in the history, headed by the Bishop of Rome, known as the Pope, the churchs doctrines are summarised in the Nicene Creed and the Apostles Creed. Its central administration is located in Vatican City, enclaved within Rome, the Catholic Church is notable within Western Christianity for its sacred tradition and seven sacraments. It teaches that it is the one church founded by Jesus Christ, that its bishops are the successors of Christs apostles. The Catholic Church maintains that the doctrine on faith and morals that it declares as definitive is infallible. The Latin Church, the Eastern Catholic Churches, as well as such as mendicant orders and enclosed monastic orders. Among the sacraments, the one is the Eucharist, celebrated liturgically in the Mass. The church teaches that through consecration by a priest the sacrificial bread and wine become the body, the Catholic Church practises closed communion, with only baptised members in a state of grace ordinarily permitted to receive the Eucharist. The Virgin Mary is venerated in the Catholic Church as Queen of Heaven and is honoured in numerous Marian devotions. The Catholic Church has influenced Western philosophy, science, art and culture, Catholic spiritual teaching includes spreading the Gospel while Catholic social teaching emphasises support for the sick, the poor and the afflicted through the corporal and spiritual works of mercy. The Catholic Church is the largest non-government provider of education and medical services in the world, from the late 20th century, the Catholic Church has been criticised for its doctrines on sexuality, its refusal to ordain women and its handling of sexual abuse cases. Catholic was first used to describe the church in the early 2nd century, the first known use of the phrase the catholic church occurred in the letter from Saint Ignatius of Antioch to the Smyrnaeans, written about 110 AD. In the Catechetical Discourses of Saint Cyril of Jerusalem, the name Catholic Church was used to distinguish it from other groups that call themselves the church. The use of the adjective Roman to describe the Church as governed especially by the Bishop of Rome became more widespread after the Fall of the Western Roman Empire and into the Early Middle Ages. Catholic Church is the name used in the Catechism of the Catholic Church. The Catholic Church follows an episcopal polity, led by bishops who have received the sacrament of Holy Orders who are given formal jurisdictions of governance within the church. Ultimately leading the entire Catholic Church is the Bishop of Rome, commonly called the pope, in parallel to the diocesan structure are a variety of religious institutes that function autonomously, often subject only to the authority of the pope, though sometimes subject to the local bishop. Most religious institutes only have male or female members but some have both, additionally, lay members aid many liturgical functions during worship services

16.
County of Flanders
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The County of Flanders was a historic territory in the Low Countries. From 862 onwards the Counts of Flanders were one of the twelve peers of the Kingdom of France. For centuries their estates around the cities of Ghent, Bruges and Ypres formed one of the most affluent regions in Europe, up to 1477, the area under French suzerainty was located west of the Scheldt River and was called Royal Flanders. Aside from this the Counts of Flanders from the 11th century on also held land east of the river as a fief of the Holy Roman Empire, an area called Imperial Flanders. Part of the Burgundian Netherlands from 1384, the county was removed from French to Imperial control after the Peace of Madrid in 1526. In 1795 the remaining territory within the Austrian Netherlands was incorporated by the French First Republic, the former County of Flanders, except for French Flanders, is the only part of the medieval French kingdom that is not part of modern-day France. Flanders and Flemish are likely derived from the Frisian *flāndra and *flāmisk, the Flemish people are first mentioned in the biography of Saint Eligius, the Vita sancti Eligii. This work was written before 684, but only known since 725 and this work mentions the Flanderenses, who lived in Flandris. The geography of the historic County of Flanders only partially overlaps with present-day region of Flanders in Belgium, though there it extends beyond West Flanders. Some of the county is now part of France and the Netherlands. The arms of the County of Flanders were allegedly created by Philip of Alsace, count of Flanders from 1168 to 1191, as a result, the arms of the county live on as arms of the Flemish Community. It is said that Philip of Alsace brought the flag with him from the Holy Land, where in 1177 he supposedly conquered it from a Saracen knight. The simple fact that the lion appeared on his personal seal since 1163, in reality Philip was following a West-European trend. In the same period also appeared in the arms of Brabant, Luxembourg, Holland, Limburg. It is curious that the lion as a symbol was mostly used in border territories. It was in all likelihood a way of showing independence from the emperor, in Europe the lion had been a well-known figure since Roman times, through works such as the fables of Aesop. The future county of Flanders had been inhabited since prehistory, during the Iron Age the Kemmelberg formed an important Celtic settlement. During the times of Julius Caesar, the inhabitants were part of the Belgae, for Flanders in specific these were the Menapii, the Morini, the Nervii and the Atrebates

17.
Ogier Ghiselin de Busbecq
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Ogier Ghiselin de Busbecq was a 16th-century Flemish writer, herbalist and diplomat in the employ of three generations of Austrian monarchs. He was the son of the Seigneur de Busbecq, Georges Ghiselin, and his mistress Catherine Hespiel. He grew up at Busbecq Castle, studying in Wervik and Comines - at the time, all part of Spanish West Flanders and his intellectual gifts led him to advanced studies at the Latin-language University of Leuven, where he registered in 1536 under the name Ogier Ghislain de Comines. From there, he went on to study at a number of universities in northern Italy. Busbecq, like his father and grandfather, chose a career of public service and he entered into the service of the Austrian monarch Ferdinand I in approximately 1552. In 1554, he was sent to England for the marriage in Winchester of the English queen Mary Tudor to Philip II of Spain, in 1554 and again in 1556, Ferdinand named him ambassador to the Ottoman Empire under the rule of Suleiman the Magnificent. His task for much of the time he was in Constantinople was the negotiation of a treaty between his employer and the Sultan over the disputed territory of Transylvania. He had no success in this mission while Rustem Pasha was the Sultans vizier and these letters describe his adventures in Ottoman politics and remain one of the principal primary sources for students of the 16th-century Ottoman court. He also wrote in detail about the plant and animal life he encountered in Turkey. His letters also contain the only surviving word list of Crimean Gothic, Busbecq discovered an almost complete copy of the Res Gestae Divi Augusti, an account of Roman emperor Augustus life and accomplishments, at the Monumentum Ancyranum in Ancyra. He identified its origin from his reading of Suetonius and published a copy of parts of it in his Turkish Letters and he was an avid collector, acquiring valuable manuscripts, rare coins and curios of various kinds. Among the best known of his discoveries was a 6th-century copy of Dioscorides De Materia Medica, the emperor purchased it after Busbecqs recommendation, the manuscript is now known as the Vienna Dioscorides. His passion for herbalism led him to send Turkish tulip bulbs to his friend Charles de lÉcluse, less than a century later tulip mania was sweeping the United Provinces and ruining its financial markets. Busbecq has also credited with introducing the lilac to northern Europe as well as the Angora goat. He returned from Turkey in 1562 and became a counsellor at the court of Emperor Ferdinand in Vienna and tutor to his grandchildren, Busbecq ended his career as the guardian of Elisabeth of Austria, Maximilians daughter and widow of French king Charles IX. He continued to serve the Austrian monarchy, observing the development of the French Wars of Religion on behalf of Rudolf II and he died a few days later. His body is buried in the chapel at Saint-Germain-sous-Cailly nearby. Itinera Constantinopolitanum et Amasianum, later published as A. G. Busbequii D. legationis Turcicae epistolae quattor - Known in English as Turkish Letters, an early 20th-century English translation is available as ISBN 0-8071-3071-0

18.
Elisabeth of Hungary
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Francis, by which she is honored as its patroness. Elizabeth was married at the age of 14, and widowed at 20, after her husbands death she sent her children away and regained her dowry, using the money to build a hospital where she herself served the sick. She became a symbol of Christian charity after her death at the age of 24 and was quickly canonized, Elizabeth was the daughter of King Andrew II of Hungary and Gertrude of Merania. Her mothers sister was St. Hedwig of Andechs, wife of Duke Heinrich I of Silesia and her ancestry included many notable figures of European royalty, going back as far as Vladimir the Great of Kievan Rus. According to tradition, she was born in Kingdom of Hungary, possibly in the castle of Sárospatak, on 7 July 1207. A sermon printed in 1497 by the Franciscan friar Osvaldus de Lasco, the veracity of this account is not without reproach, Osvaldus also transforms the miracle of the roses to Elizabeths childhood in Sárospatak, and has her leave Hungary at the age of five. According to a different tradition she was born in Pozsony, Kingdom of Hungary and she was raised by the Thuringian court, so she would be familiar with the local language and culture. In 1221, at the age of fourteen, Elizabeth married Louis, the year he was enthroned as Landgrave. After her marriage, she continued her charitable practices, which included spinning wool for the clothing of the poor, in 1223, Franciscan friars arrived, and the teenage Elizabeth not only learned about the ideals of Francis of Assisi, but started to live them. It was also about time that the priest and later inquisitor Konrad von Marburg gained considerable influence over Elizabeth when he was appointed as her confessor. Elizabeth assumed control of affairs at home and distributed alms in all parts of their territory, even giving away state robes, below Wartburg Castle, she built a hospital with twenty-eight beds and visited the inmates daily to attend to them. Elizabeths life changed irrevocably on 11 September 1227 when Louis, en route to join the Sixth Crusade, died of a fever in Otranto, on hearing the news of her husbands death, Elizabeth is reported to have said, He is dead. It is to me as if the world died today. His remains were returned to Elizabeth in 1228 and entombed at the Abbey of Reinhardsbrunn, after Louis death, his brother, Henry Raspe, assumed the regency during the minority of Elizabeths eldest child, Hermann. About 1888 various investigators asserted that Elizabeth left the Wartburg voluntarily and she was not able at the castle to follow Konrads command to eat only food obtained in a way that was certainly right and proper. Following her husbands death, Elizabeth made solemn vows to Konrad similar to those of a nun and these vows included celibacy, as well as complete obedience to Konrad as her confessor and spiritual director. Konrads treatment of Elizabeth was extremely harsh, and he held her to standards of behavior which were almost impossible to meet, among the punishments he is alleged to have ordered were physical beatings, he also ordered her to send away her three children. Her pledge to celibacy proved a hindrance to her familys political ambitions, Elizabeth was more or less held hostage at Pottenstein, the castle of her uncle, Bishop Ekbert of Bamberg, in an effort to force her to remarry

19.
Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor
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Ferdinand I was Holy Roman Emperor from 1558, king of Bohemia and Hungary from 1526, and king of Croatia from 1527 until his death. Before his accession, he ruled the Austrian hereditary lands of the Habsburgs in the name of his brother, Charles V. Also, he served as Charles representative in Germany and developed useful relationships with German princes. Ferdinand was able to defend his realm and make it more cohesive. His flexible approach to Imperial problems, mainly religious, finally brought more result than the more confrontational attitude of his brother, Ferdinands motto was Fiat iustitia, et pereat mundus, Let justice be done, though the world perish. Ferdinand shared his customs, culture, and even his birthday with his maternal grandfather Ferdinand II of Aragon and he was born, raised, and educated in Spain, and did not learn German when he was young. In the summer of 1518 Ferdinand was sent to Flanders following his brother Charless arrival in Spain as newly appointed King Charles I the previous autumn. He returned in command of his brothers fleet but en route was blown off-course and he was Archduke of Austria from 1521 to 1564. Though he supported his brother, Ferdinand also managed to strengthen his own realm, by adopting the German language and culture late in his life, he also grew close to the German territorial princes. After the death of his brother-in-law Louis II, Ferdinand ruled as King of Bohemia and Hungary. Ferdinand also served as his brothers deputy in the Holy Roman Empire during his brothers many absences, according to the terms set at the First Congress of Vienna in 1515, Ferdinand married Anne Jagiellonica, daughter of King Vladislaus II of Bohemia and Hungary on 22 July 1515. Therefore, after the death of his brother-in-law Louis II, King of Bohemia and of Hungary, at the battle of Mohács on 29 August 1526, the success was only partial, as the Diet refused to recognise Ferdinand as hereditary lord of the Kingdom. The Croatian nobles unanimously elected Ferdinand I as their king in the 1527 election in Cetin, in Hungary, Nicolaus Olahus, secretary of Louis, attached himself to the party of Ferdinand but retained his position with his sister, Queen Dowager Mary. Ferdinand was elected King of Hungary by a rump Diet in Pozsony in December 1526, the throne of Hungary became the subject of a dynastic dispute between Ferdinand and John Zápolya, Voivode of Transylvania. They were supported by different factions of the nobility in the Hungarian kingdom, Ferdinand also had the support of his brother, the Emperor Charles V. Ferdinand defeated Zápolya at the Battle of Tarcal in September 1527 and again in the Battle of Szina in March 1528. Zápolya fled the country and applied to Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent for support, a further Ottoman invasion was repelled in 1533. In 1538, in the Treaty of Nagyvárad, Ferdinand induced the childless Zápolya to name him as his successor, but in 1540, just before his death, Zápolya had a son, John II Sigismund, who was promptly elected King by the Diet. Ferdinand invaded Hungary, but the regent, Frater George Martinuzzi, Bishop of Várad, Suleiman marched into Hungary and not only drove Ferdinand out of central Hungary, he forced Ferdinand to agree to pay tribute for his lands in western Hungary

20.
Frederick II of Denmark
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Frederick II was King of Denmark and Norway and duke of Schleswig from 1559 until his death. Frederick II was the son of King Christian III of Denmark and Norway and he was hailed as successor to the Throne of Denmark in 1542 and of Norway in 1548. As king, he visited Norway in 1585, when he came to Båhus, unlike his father, he was strongly affected by military ideals. Already as a man he made friendship with German war princes. Shortly after his succession he won his first victory with the conquest of Dithmarschen in Schleswig-Holstein by Johan Rantzau during the summer of 1559, from his predecessor, he inherited the Livonian War. In 1560, he installed his younger brother Magnus of Holstein in the Bishopric of Ösel–Wiek, Frederick largely tried to avoid conflict in Livonia and consolidated amicable relations to Ivan IV in the 1562 Treaty of Mozhaysk. As a vassal of Ivan IV of Russia, Magnus was the titular King of Livonia from 1570 to 1578. His competition with Sweden for supremacy in the Baltic broke out into open warfare in 1563, the start of the Seven Years War and he tried in vain to conquer Sweden, which was ruled by his cousin, King Eric XIV. It developed into an expensive war of attrition in which the areas of Scania were ravaged by the Swedes. During this war the king led his army personally on the battlefield, the conflict damaged his relationship to his noble councillors, however the Sture Murders of 24 May 1567 by the insane King Eric XIV in Sweden helped stabilize the situation in Denmark. After the war Frederick kept the peace without giving up his attempt of trying to expand his prestige as a naval ruler and his foreign politics were marked by a moral support of the Protestant powers – but at the same time by a strict neutrality. In 1552, Steward of the Realm Peder Oxe had been raised to Councillor of State, during the spring of 1557, Oxe and the King had quarreled over a mutual property exchange. Failing to compromise matters with the king, Oxe had fled to Germany in 1558, however, financial difficulties arose during the stress of the Northern Seven Years War. After state finances collapsed during the years 1566 to 1567, Frederik called Peder Oxe home to address the kingdoms economy, the taking over of Danish administration and finances by the able councillor, provided a marked improvement for the national treasury. Councillors of experience including Niels Kaas, Arild Huitfeldt and Christoffer Valkendorff took care of the domestic administration, subsequently government finances were put in order and Denmarks economy improved. One of the chief expedients of the state of affairs was the raising of the Sound Dues. Oxe, as treasurer, reduced the national debt considerably. This was a period of affluence and growth in Danish history, Frederick II rebuilt Kronborg castle in Elsinore between 1574 and 1585

21.
Sebastian of Portugal
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Dom Sebastian I was King of Portugal and the Algarves from 11 June 1557 to 4 August 1578 and the penultimate Portuguese monarch of the House of Aviz. He was the son of John Manuel, Prince of Portugal and he was the grandson of King John III of Portugal and Holy Roman Emperor Charles V. He disappeared in the battle of Alcácer Quibir, Sebastian I is often referred to as The Desired, as the Portuguese people longed for his return to end the decline of Portugal that began after his death. Sebastian was born shortly after eight in the morning of 20 January 1554, the name Sebastian was highly unusual for members of any European royal family at the time. Shortly after his birth, a doctor, Fernando Abarca Maldonado, among other things, Maldonado predicted that Sebastian would be very attracted to women, marry and have many children. None of these predictions ever came to pass, Sebastian was born heir-apparent to the throne of Portugal, since his birth occurred two weeks after the death of his father. He succeeded to the throne at the age of three, on the death of King John III, his paternal grandfather, soon after his birth, his mother Joanna of Spain left her infant son to serve as regent of Spain for her father, Emperor Charles V. After his abdication in 1556, she served in the capacity for her brother Philip II of Spain. Joanna remained in Spain until her death in 1573, never to see her son again, since Sebastian was still a child, a regency was necessary. It was handled first by his grandmother, Catherine of Austria. This period saw continued Portuguese colonial expansion in Angola, Mozambique, Sebastian was a bright and lively boy. Reports say he was due to his great physical strength. Tall, slim, and blond, he was brought up by his grandmother Catherine, obedient as a child, he became obstinate and impulsive in later life. The young king grew up under the guidance and heavy influence of the Jesuits, aleixo de Meneses, a military man of solid reputation and former tutor and guardian of Prince John, was appointed tutor to Sebastian by the boys grandmother. Other teachers included the priest Luís Gonçalves da Câmara and his assistant and his upbringing made Sebastian extremely devout. He carried a copy of Thomas Aquinas on a belt at his waist and was accompanied by two monks of the Theatine Order who were intent on preserving the kings innocence. As a child, Sebastian reportedly would react to visitors by running off into hiding with the monks until the visitors had gone, Sebastian died young and did not marry. However, he was involved in several proposed marriage alliances, by then, Sebastians proposal was rejected

22.
Catherine de' Medici
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Catherine de Medici, daughter of Lorenzo II de Medici and of Madeleine de La Tour dAuvergne, was an Italian noblewoman who was Queen of France from 1547 until 1559, as the wife of King Henry II. As the mother of three sons who became kings of France during her lifetime, she had extensive, if at times varying, for a time, she ruled France as its regent. In 1533, at the age of fourteen, Caterina married Henry, second son of King Francis I, under the gallicised version of her name, Catherine de Médicis, she was Queen consort of France as the wife of King Henry II of France from 1547 to 1559. Throughout his reign, Henry excluded Catherine from participating in state affairs and instead showered favours on his mistress, Diane de Poitiers. Henrys death thrust Catherine into the arena as mother of the frail fifteen-year-old King Francis II. When he died in 1560, she became regent on behalf of her ten-year-old son King Charles IX and was granted sweeping powers, after Charles died in 1574, Catherine played a key role in the reign of her third son, Henry III. He dispensed with her only in the last months of her life. Catherines three sons reigned in an age of almost constant civil and religious war in France, the problems facing the monarchy were complex and daunting but Catherine was able to keep the monarchy and the state institutions functioning even at a minimum level. At first, Catherine compromised and made concessions to the rebelling Protestants, or Huguenots and she failed, however, to grasp the theological issues that drove their movement. Later she resorted, in frustration and anger, to hard-line policies against them, some historians have excused Catherine from blame for the worst decisions of the crown, though evidence for her ruthlessness can be found in her letters. In practice, her authority was limited by the effects of the civil wars. Without Catherine, it is unlikely that her sons would have remained in power, the years in which they reigned have been called the age of Catherine de Medici. According to Mark Strage, one of her biographers, Catherine was the most powerful woman in sixteenth-century Europe. Catherine was born on 13 April 1519 in Florence, Republic of Florence, the child of Lorenzo de Medici, Duke of Urbino, and his wife, Madeleine de la Tour dAuvergne. The young couple had married the year before at Amboise as part of the alliance between King Francis I of France and Lorenzos uncle Pope Leo X against the Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I. According to a chronicler, when Catherine was born, her parents were as pleased as if it had been a boy. King Francis wanted Catherine to be raised at the French court, Catherine was first cared for by her paternal grandmother, Alfonsina Orsini. After Alfonsinas death in 1520, Catherine joined her cousins and was raised by her aunt, the death of Pope Leo in 1521 interrupted Medici power briefly, until Cardinal Giulio de Medici was elected Pope Clement VII in 1523

23.
Philip II of Spain
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Philip II of Spain, called the Prudent, was King of Spain, King of Portugal, King of Naples and Sicily, and jure uxoris King of England and Ireland. He was also Duke of Milan, from 1555, he was lord of the Seventeen Provinces of the Netherlands. Known in Spain as Felipe el Prudente, his empire included territories on every continent then known to Europeans, during his reign, Spain reached the height of its influence and power. This is sometimes called the Golden Age, the expression, the empire on which the sun never sets, was coined during Philips time to reflect the extent of his dominion. During Philips reign there were separate state bankruptcies in 1557,1560,1569,1575 and this was partly the cause of the declaration of independence which created the Dutch Republic in 1581. The Ambassador went on to say He dresses very tastefully, the culture and courtly life of Spain were an important influence in his early life. He was tutored by Juan Martínez Siliceo – the future Archbishop of Toledo, Philip displayed reasonable aptitude in arms and letters alike. Later he would study with more illustrious tutors, including the humanist Juan Cristóbal Calvete de Estrella, Philip, though he had good command over Latin, Spanish and Portuguese, never managed to equal his father, Charles V, as a polyglot. Despite being also a German archduke from the House of Habsburg, Philip felt himself to be culturally Spanish, he had been born in Spain and raised in the Castilian court, his native tongue was Spanish, and he preferred to live in Spain. This would ultimately impede his succession to the imperial throne, Philip was also close to his two sisters, María and Juana, and to his two pages, the Portuguese nobleman Rui Gomes da Silva and Luis de Requesens, the son of his governor Juan de Zúñiga. These men would serve Philip throughout their lives, as would Antonio Pérez, Philips martial training was undertaken by his governor, Juan de Zúñiga, a Castilian nobleman who served as the commendador mayor of Castile. The practical lessons in warfare were overseen by the Duke of Alba during the Italian Wars, Philip was present at the Siege of Perpignan in 1542, but did not see action as the Spanish army under Alba decisively defeated the besieging French forces under the Dauphin of France. On his way back to Castile, Philip received the oath of allegiance of the Aragonese Cortes at Monzón. The king-emperors interactions with his son during his stay in Spain convinced him of Philips precocity in statesmanship, Philip, who had previously been made the Duke of Milan in 1540, began governing the most extensive empire in the world at the young age of sixteen. Charles left Philip with experienced advisors—notably the secretary Francisco de los Cobos, Philip was also left with extensive written instructions which emphasised piety, patience, modesty, and distrust. These principles of Charles were gradually assimilated by his son, who would grow up to become grave, self-possessed, personally, Philip spoke softly, and had an icy self-mastery, in the words of one of his ministers, he had a smile that cut like a sword. After living in the Netherlands in the years of his reign. Although sometimes described as a monarch, Philip faced many constitutional constraints on his authority

24.
Huguenot
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Huguenots are the ethnoreligious group of French Protestants who follow the Reformed tradition. It was used frequently to members of the French Reformed Church until the beginning of the 19th century. The term has its origin in 16th-century France, Huguenot numbers peaked near an estimated two million by 1562, concentrated mainly in the southern and western parts of France. As Huguenots gained influence and more openly displayed their faith, Catholic hostility grew, in spite of political concessions, a series of religious conflicts followed, known as the French Wars of Religion, fought intermittently from 1562 to 1598. The Huguenots were led by Jeanne dAlbret, her son, the future Henry IV, the wars ended with the Edict of Nantes, which granted the Huguenots substantial religious, political, and military autonomy. Huguenot rebellions in the 1620s prompted the abolishment of their political and they retained religious provisions of the Edict of Nantes until the rule of Louis XIV. Nevertheless, a minority of Huguenots remained and faced continued persecution under Louis XV. By the death of Louis XV in 1774, French Calvinism was almost completely wiped out, persecution of Protestants officially ended with the Edict of Versailles, signed by Louis XVI in 1787. Two years later, with the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen of 1789 and they also spread to the Dutch Cape Colony in South Africa, the Dutch East Indies, the Caribbean, New Netherland, and several of the English colonies in North America. Small contingents of families went to Orthodox Russia and Catholic Quebec, a term used originally in derision, Huguenot has unclear origins. Geneva was John Calvins adopted home and the centre of the Calvinist movement, the label Huguenot was purportedly first applied in France to those conspirators involved in the Amboise plot of 1560, a foiled attempt to wrest power in France from the influential House of Guise. The move would have had the effect of fostering relations with the Swiss. Thus, Hugues plus Eidgenosse by way of Huisgenoten supposedly became Huguenot, a version of this complex hypothesis is promoted by O. I. A. Roche, who writes in his book, The Days of the Upright, A History of the Huguenots, that Huguenot is, a combination of a Dutch and a German word. Gallicised into Huguenot, often used deprecatingly, the word became, Some disagree with such double or triple non-French linguistic origins, arguing that for the word to have spread into common use in France, it must have originated in the French language. The Hugues hypothesis argues that the name was derived by association with Hugues Capet, king of France and he was regarded by the Gallicans and Protestants as a noble man who respected peoples dignity and lives. Janet Gray and other supporters of the hypothesis suggest that the name huguenote would be equivalent to little Hugos. It was in place in Tours that the prétendus réformés habitually gathered at night

25.
Habsburg
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The House of Habsburg, also called House of Hapsburg, or House of Austria, was one of the most influential royal houses of Europe. The throne of the Holy Roman Empire was continuously occupied by the Habsburgs between 1438 and 1740, from the sixteenth century, following the reign of Charles V, the dynasty was split between its Austrian and Spanish branches. Although they ruled distinct territories, they maintained close relations. The House takes its name from Habsburg Castle, a built in the 1020s in present-day Switzerland, in the canton of Aargau, by Count Radbot of Klettgau. His grandson Otto II was the first to take the name as his own. The House of Habsburg gathered dynastic momentum through the 11th, 12th, by 1276, Count Radbots seventh generation descendant Rudolph of Habsburg had moved the familys power base from Habsburg Castle to the Duchy of Austria. Rudolph had become King of Germany in 1273, and the dynasty of the House of Habsburg was truly entrenched in 1276 when Rudolph became ruler of Austria, which the Habsburgs ruled until 1918. A series of dynastic marriages enabled the family to expand its domains to include Burgundy, Spain and its colonial empire, Bohemia, Hungary. In the 16th century, the separated into the senior Habsburg Spain and the junior Habsburg Monarchy branches. The House of Habsburg became extinct in the 18th century, the senior Spanish branch ended upon the death of Charles II of Spain in 1700 and was replaced by the House of Bourbon. It was succeeded by the Vaudemont branch of the House of Lorraine, the new successor house styled itself formally as the House of Habsburg-Lorraine, although it was often referred to as simply the House of Habsburg. His grandson Radbot, Count of Habsburg founded the Habsburg Castle, the origins of the castles name, located in what is now the Swiss canton of Aargau, are uncertain. There is disagreement on whether the name is derived from the High German Habichtsburg, or from the Middle High German word hab/hap meaning ford, the first documented use of the name by the dynasty itself has been traced to the year 1108. The Habsburg Castle was the seat in the 11th, 12th and 13th centuries. The Habsburgs expanded their influence through arranged marriages and by gaining political privileges, in the 13th century, the house aimed its marriage policy at families in Upper Alsace and Swabia. They were also able to high positions in the church hierarchy for their members. Territorially, they often profited from the extinction of other families such as the House of Kyburg. By the second half of the 13th century, count Rudolph IV had become one of the most influential territorial lords in the area between the Vosges Mountains and Lake Constance

26.
Speyer
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Speyer is a town in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, with approximately 50,000 inhabitants. Located beside the river Rhine, Speyer is 25 km south of Ludwigshafen, founded by the Romans, it is one of Germanys oldest cities. The first known names were Noviomagus and Civitas Nemetum, after the Teutonic tribe, Nemetes, around AD500 the name Spira first appeared in written documents and, as well as the French, this is still reflected in the names Spira and Espira used in Italian and Spanish. The citys name may be the origin of the Ashkenazi Jewish name, Shapiro, Speyer is dominated by the Speyer Cathedral, a number of churches and the Altpörtel. In the cathedral, beneath the altar, are the tombs of eight Holy Roman emperors. In 10 BC, the first Roman military camp is established, in AD150, the town appears as Noviomagus on the world map of the Greek geographer Ptolemy. In 346, a bishop for the town is mentioned for the first time, 4th century, Speyer appears on the Peutinger Map. In 1030, emperor Conrad II starts the construction of Speyer Cathedral, in 1076, emperor Henry IV embarks from Speyer, his favourite town, for Canossa. In 1084, establishment of the first Jewish community in Speyer, in 1294, the bishop loses most of his previous rights, and from now on Speyer is a Free Imperial Town of the Holy Roman Empire. In 1349, the Jewish community of Speyer is wiped out, between 1527 and 1689, Speyer is the seat of the Imperial Chamber Court. In 1526, at the Diet of Speyer interim toleration of Lutheran teaching, in 1529, at the Diet of Speyer the Lutheran states of the empire protest against the anti-Reformation resolutions. In 1635, Marshal of France Urbain de Maillé-Brézé, together with Jacques Nompar de Caumont, duc de La Force, conquers Heidelberg, in 1689, the town is heavily damaged by French troops. Between 1792 and 1814, Speyer is under French jurisdiction, in 1816, Speyer becomes the seat of administration of the Palatinate and of the government of the Rhine District of Bavaria, and remains so until the end of World War II. Between 1883 and 1904, the Memorial Church is built in remembrance of the Protestation of 1529, in 1947, the State Academy of Administrative Science is founded. In 1990, Speyer celebrates its 2000th anniversary

27.
Ferdinand II, Archduke of Austria
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Ferdinand II, Archduke of Further Austria was ruler of Further Austria including Tirol. The son of Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor, he was married to Philippine Welser in his first marriage, in his second marriage to Anna Juliana Gonzaga, he was the father of Anna of Tyrol, the would-be Holy Roman Empress. Archduke Ferdinand of Austria was the son of Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor and Anna of Bohemia. He was a brother of Emperor Maximilian II. At the behest of his father, he was put in charge of the administration of Bohemia in 1547 and he also led the campaign against the Turks in Hungary in 1556. In 1557 he was married to Philippine Welser, daughter of a patrician from Augsburg. The marriage was accepted by Emperor Ferdinand I in 1559 under the condition of secrecy. The children were to receive the name of Austria but would only be entitled to if the House of Habsburg became totally extinct in the male line. The sons born of this received the title Margrave of Burgau, after the Margraviate of Burgau. The younger of the sons, who survived their father, later received the title of Fürst zu Burgau. After his fathers death in 1564, Ferdinand became the ruler of Tirol, however, he remained governor of Bohemia in Prague until 1567 according to the wishes of his brother Maximilian II. In his own lands, Ferdinand made sure that the Catholic counterreformation would prevail, the cultured humanist from the House of Habsburg was instrumental in promoting the Renaissance in central European. He also was a collector of art. He accommodated his world-famous collections in a museum built specifically for that purpose, the collection was started during his time in Bohemia and subsequently moved it to Tyrol. In particular, the Chamber of Art and Curiosities, the gallery of portraits and the collection of armor were highly expensive, today these collections are at Ambras Castle Innsbruck and in the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna. After the death of Philippine in 1580, he married Anne Catherine, Archduke Ferdinand died on 24 January 1595. Since his sons from the first marriage were not entitled to the inheritance, and his daughter from the Mantuan marriage became the Empress Anna, consort of Emperor Mathias, who received his Further Austrian inheritance. He and his first wife Philippine Welser were parents of four children, became a Cardinal in 1576, Margrave of Burgau in 1578, Bishop of Constance in 1589 and Bishop of Brixen in 1591

28.
Trier
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Trier, formerly known in English as Treves, is a city in Germany on the banks of the Moselle. Trier lies in a valley between low vine-covered hills of red sandstone in the west of the state of Rhineland-Palatinate, near the border with Luxembourg and within the important Moselle wine region. Founded by the Celts in the late-4th century BC as Treuorum, it was conquered by the Romans in the late-1st century BC. Trier may be the oldest city in Germany and it is also the oldest seat of a bishop north of the Alps. In the Middle Ages, the Archbishop-Elector of Trier was an important prince of the church, the Archbishop-Elector also had great significance as one of the seven electors of the Holy Roman Empire. With an approximate population of 105,000, Trier is the fourth-largest city in its state, after Mainz, Ludwigshafen, the nearest major cities are Luxembourg, Saarbrücken, and Koblenz. It is one of the five places of the state of Rhineland-Palatinate. A medieval inscription on the façade of the Red House in Trier market stated, trebetas parents were said to have been Ninus, a legendary King of Assyria invented by the ancient Greeks, and an unknown mother who was Ninuss wife before Semiramis. Semiramis took control of the kingdom upon his fathers death and Trebeta was forced into exile and his body was said to have been cremated on Petrisberg. The historical record describes the Roman Empire subduing the Treveri in the 1st century BC, the name distinguished it from the empires many other cities honoring the first emperor Augustus. The city later became the capital of the province of Belgic Gaul, after the Diocletian Reforms, it became the capital of the prefecture of the Gauls, overseeing much of the Western Roman Empire. In the 4th century, Trier was one of the largest cities in the Roman Empire with a population around 75,000, the Porta Nigra dates from this era. A residence of the Western Roman Emperor, Roman Trier was the birthplace of Saint Ambrose, sometime between 395 and 418, probably in 407 the Roman administration moved the staff of the Praetorian Prefecture about 2000 from the city to Arles. The city continued to be inhabited but was not as prosperous as before, northern Gaul was held by the Romans along a line from north of Cologne to the coast at Boulogne through what is today southern Belgium until 460. South of this line, Roman control was firm, as evidenced by the operation of the imperial arms factory at Amiens. The Franks seized Trier from Roman administration in 459, in 870, it became part of Eastern Francia, which developed into the Holy Roman Empire. Relics of Saint Matthias brought to the city initiated widespread pilgrimages, the bishops of the city grew increasingly powerful and the Archbishopric of Trier was recognized as an electorate of the empire, one of the most powerful states of Germany. The University of Trier was founded in the city in 1473, in the 17th century, the Archbishops and Prince-Electors of Trier relocated their residences to Philippsburg Castle in Ehrenbreitstein, near Koblenz

29.
Sedan, Ardennes
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Sedan is a commune in France, a sub-prefecture of the Ardennes department in northern France. The historic centre is built on a formed by an arc of the Meuse River. It is around 10 kilometres from the Belgian border, in the sixteenth century Sédan was an asylum for Protestant refugees from the Wars of Religion. Until 1651, the Principality of Sedan belonged to the La Tour dAuvergne family and it was at that time a sovereign principality. Their most illustrious representative, Marshal Turenne, was born at Sedan on 11 September 1611, only a year after that submission, it was annexed to France in return for sparing his life after he became involved in a conspiracy against France. This town was also the birthplace of Jacques MacDonald, a general who served in the Napoleonic Wars, during the Franco-Prussian War, on 2 September 1870 the French emperor Napoleon III was taken prisoner with 100,000 of his soldiers at the First Battle of Sedan. Due to this victory, which also made the unification of Germany possible,2 September was declared Sedan Day. It remained a holiday until 1919, Sedan was occupied by the Germans for four years during World War I. On 13 November 1917, the German Crown Prince paraded the 13th Infantry Division over the course of dAlsace-Lorraine, during World War II the German troops first invaded neutral Belgium and crossed the Meuse River by winning the Second Battle of Sedan that lasted from 12 to 15 May 1940. Today Sedan is known for its castle, that is claimed to be the largest fortified medieval castle in Europe with an area of 30,000 square metres on seven levels. Construction started in 1424 and the defences were constantly improved over the ages. It is the remaining part of the once enormous fortifications in. Jardin botanique de Sedan Festival médiéval de Sedan in May A centre of production, begun under the patronage of Cardinal Mazarin

30.
Henry III of France
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Henry III was a monarch of the House of Valois who was elected the monarch of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth from 1573 to 1575 and ruled as King of France from 1574 until his death. He was the last French monarch of the Valois dynasty, as the fourth son of King Henry II of France and Catherine de Medici, Henry was not expected to assume the throne of France. He was thus a candidate for the vacant Commonwealth throne. Henrys rule over Commonwealth was brief, but notable, the Henrician Articles he signed into law accepting the Commonwealth throne established Poland as an elective monarchy subject to free election by the Polish nobility. Of his three brothers, two would live long enough to ascend the French throne, but both died young and without a legitimate male heir. He abandoned Commonwealth upon receiving word that he had inherited the throne of France at the age of 22, Henry III was himself a politique, arguing that a strong and religiously tolerant monarchy would save France from collapse. Henry IIIs legitimate heir was his distant cousin Henry, King of Navarre, the Catholic League, led by Henry I, Duke of Guise, sought to exclude Protestants from the succession and championed the Catholic Charles, Cardinal of Bourbon, as Henry IIIs heir. Henry was born at the royal Château de Fontainebleau, the son of King Henry II and Catherine de Medici and grandson of Francis I of France. His older brothers were Francis II of France, Charles IX of France and he was made Duke of Angoulême and Duke of Orléans in 1560, then Duke of Anjou in 1566. He was his mothers favourite, she called him chers yeux and lavished fondness and his elder brother, Charles, grew to detest him, partially because he resented his better health. In his youth, Henry was considered the best of the sons of Catherine de Medici, unlike his father and elder brothers, he had little interest in the traditional Valois pastimes of hunting and physical exercise. Although he was fond of fencing and skilled in it, he preferred to indulge his tastes for the arts. These predilections were attributed to his Italian mother, at one point in his youth he showed a tendency towards Protestantism as a means of rebelling. At the age of nine, calling himself a little Huguenot, he refused to attend Mass, sang Protestant psalms to his sister Margaret and his mother firmly cautioned her children against such behaviour, and he would never again show any Protestant tendencies. Instead, he became nominally Roman Catholic, reports that Henry engaged in same sex relations with his court favourites, known as the mignons, date back to his own time. Certainly he enjoyed relationships with them. The scholar Louis Crompton provides substantial contemporary evidence of Henry IIIs homosexuality, and it is difficult, he writes, to reconcile the king whose use of favourites is so logically strategic with the man who goes to pieces when one of them dies. In 1570, discussions commenced to arrange for Henry to court Queen Elizabeth I of England, Elizabeth, almost 37, was expected by many parties in her country to marry and produce an heir

31.
Francis, Duke of Anjou
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Francis, Duke of Anjou and Alençon was the youngest son of Henry II of France and Catherine de Medici. An attractive child, he was scarred by smallpox at age eight and he changed his name to Francis in honour of his late brother Francis II of France when he was confirmed. In 1574, following the death of his brother Charles IX of France, in 1576, he was made Duke of Anjou, Touraine, and Berry. In 1576, he negotiated the Edict of Beaulieu during the French Wars of Religion, in 1579, he was invited by William the Silent to become hereditary sovereign to the United Provinces. On 29 September 1580, the Dutch States General signed the Treaty of Plessis-les-Tours with the Duke, during the night of 15 September 1575, Alençon ran from the French court after being alienated by his brother King Henry III. Both Henry III and Catherine de Medici feared he would join the Protestant rebels and these fears proved well founded, Francis joined the prince of Condé and his forces in the south. By ‘secret treaties’ that formed part of this settlement, many on the Protestant side were rewarded with land. Francis was awarded the Duchy of Anjou and thus became the Duke of Anjou, at the same time, in 1579, arrangements began to be made for marrying him to Elizabeth I of England. Alençon, now Duke of Anjou, was in fact the one of Elizabeths foreign suitors to court her in person. He was 24 and Elizabeth was 46, despite the age gap, the two soon became very close, Elizabeth dubbing him her frog. Queen Elizabeth often used unflattering slang names for her favourites such as pygmy for Robert Cecil who was short of stature, thus, her use of the slang name frog was consistent with her habits. Whether or not Elizabeth truly planned marrying Anjou is a debated topic. It is obvious that she was fond of him, knowing that he was probably going to be her last suitor. There are many anecdotes about their flirting, the match was controversial in the English public, English Protestants warned the Queen that the hearts will be galled when they shall see you take to husband a Frenchman, and a Papist. The very common people well know this, that he is the son of the Jezebel of our age, referring to the Dukes mother, Catherine de Medici. Of her Privy Council, only William Cecil, Lord Burghley, most notable councillors, foremost among them Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester, and Sir Francis Walsingham, were strongly opposed, even warning the Queen of the hazards of childbirth at her age. In these years Walsingham became friends with the diplomat of Henry of Navarre in England and he returned to England without an agreement. Personally, Walsingham opposed the marriage, perhaps to the point of encouraging public opposition, Alençon was a Catholic, and as his elder brother, Henry III, was childless, he was heir to the French throne

32.
Charles, Cardinal de Bourbon
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Charles de Bourbon was a French cardinal. The Catholic League considered him the rightful King of France after the death of Henry III of France in 1589 and he was born at La Ferté-sous-Jouarre, in what is now the department of Seine-et-Marne, the eighth child of Charles IV de Bourbon, duke of Vendôme. Charles made a career in the Roman Catholic hierarchy. He was bishop of Nevers, bishop of Saintes, archbishop of Rouen, bishop of Nantes, Papal legate in Avignon, in 1551 he was made Lieutenant-General of Paris and Ile de France. On 31 December 1578 he was made the first commander in the Order of the Holy Spirit, however, the senior member of the family, Henry III of Navarre, was a Protestant. The Catholic League, party to the French Wars of Religion, excluded all Protestants from the succession, in the secret Treaty of Joinville of 31 December 1584 he was anointed by the leaders of the league and a representative of Philip II of Spain. Henry III had Charles imprisoned in the castle of Blois on 23 December 1588 and he was transferred from one castle to another, presumably to prevent escape. On Henry IIIs death in 1589, the League proclaimed Charles king, while he was still a prisoner and he was recognized as Charles X by the parliament of Paris on 21 November 1589. His prison was considered too close to Catholic territory, so he was again transferred, the Catholic League issued coins in his name from 2 August 1589 to his death from 15 Mints, including Paris. Charles, however, renounced the title and recognized his nephew Henry IV. He died in the castle of Fontenay-le-Comte, when the Comte dArtois ascended the French throne in 1824, choosing to believe that Charles de Bourbon had never been King, he styled himself Charles X of France

33.
Cloth of gold
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Cloth of gold or gold cloth is a fabric woven with a gold-wrapped or spun weft—referred to as a spirally spun gold strip. In most cases, the yarn is silk wrapped with a band or strip of high content gold. In rarer instances, fine linen and wool have been used as the core and it is mentioned on both Roman headstones for women and in the Book of Psalms as a fabric befitting a princess. The Ancient Greek reference to the Golden Fleece is seen by some as a reference to gold cloth, Cloth of gold has been popular for ecclesiastical use for many centuries. Under Henry VII of England, its use was reserved to royalty and it is also used today by companies such as Charvet for neckwear. Few extant examples have survived in Roman provincial tombs, later producers of cloth of gold include the Byzantine Empire and Medieval Italian weavers, particularly in Genoa, Venice and Lucca. In the 14th century, cloth of gold made in China was called marramas, a similar cloth of silver was also made. It is still made in India and Europe today, most modern metallic fabrics made in the West are known as lamé. Cloth of gold is a name occasionally applied to the venomous Conus textile species of cone shell. Field of the Cloth of Gold Samite The Roman Textile Industry, a Birthday Tribute to John Peter Wild. Edited by Penelope Walton Rodgers, et al

34.
Paris
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Paris is the capital and most populous city of France. It has an area of 105 square kilometres and a population of 2,229,621 in 2013 within its administrative limits, the agglomeration has grown well beyond the citys administrative limits. By the 17th century, Paris was one of Europes major centres of finance, commerce, fashion, science, and the arts, and it retains that position still today. The aire urbaine de Paris, a measure of area, spans most of the Île-de-France region and has a population of 12,405,426. It is therefore the second largest metropolitan area in the European Union after London, the Metropole of Grand Paris was created in 2016, combining the commune and its nearest suburbs into a single area for economic and environmental co-operation. Grand Paris covers 814 square kilometres and has a population of 7 million persons, the Paris Region had a GDP of €624 billion in 2012, accounting for 30.0 percent of the GDP of France and ranking it as one of the wealthiest regions in Europe. The city is also a rail, highway, and air-transport hub served by two international airports, Paris-Charles de Gaulle and Paris-Orly. Opened in 1900, the subway system, the Paris Métro. It is the second busiest metro system in Europe after Moscow Metro, notably, Paris Gare du Nord is the busiest railway station in the world outside of Japan, with 262 millions passengers in 2015. In 2015, Paris received 22.2 million visitors, making it one of the top tourist destinations. The association football club Paris Saint-Germain and the rugby union club Stade Français are based in Paris, the 80, 000-seat Stade de France, built for the 1998 FIFA World Cup, is located just north of Paris in the neighbouring commune of Saint-Denis. Paris hosts the annual French Open Grand Slam tennis tournament on the red clay of Roland Garros, Paris hosted the 1900 and 1924 Summer Olympics and is bidding to host the 2024 Summer Olympics. The name Paris is derived from its inhabitants, the Celtic Parisii tribe. Thus, though written the same, the name is not related to the Paris of Greek mythology. In the 1860s, the boulevards and streets of Paris were illuminated by 56,000 gas lamps, since the late 19th century, Paris has also been known as Panam in French slang. Inhabitants are known in English as Parisians and in French as Parisiens and they are also pejoratively called Parigots. The Parisii, a sub-tribe of the Celtic Senones, inhabited the Paris area from around the middle of the 3rd century BC. One of the areas major north-south trade routes crossed the Seine on the île de la Cité, this place of land and water trade routes gradually became a town

35.
Charles, Cardinal of Lorraine
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Charles de Lorraine, Duke of Chevreuse, was a French Cardinal, a member of the powerful House of Guise. He was known at first as the Cardinal of Guise, and then as the second Cardinal of Lorraine, after the death of his uncle, John and he was the protector of Rabelais and Ronsard and founded Reims University. He is sometimes known as the Cardinal de Lorraine, born in Joinville, Haute-Marne, Charles of Guise was the son of Claude, Duke of Guise and his wife Antoinette de Bourbon. His older brother was François, Duke of Guise and his sister Mary of Guise was wife of James V of Scotland and mother of Mary, Queen of Scots. He was made Archbishop of Reims in 1538, Cardinal on 27 July 1547 and his uncle died on 10 May 1550. He resigned the see of Metz on 22 April 1551, and was succeeded as Administrator by Cardinal Robert de Lenoncourt. The efforts of this cardinal to enforce his familys pretensions to the Countship of Provence and he failed also when he attempted, in 1551, to dissuade Henry II from uniting the Duchy of Lorraine to France. He succeeded, however, in creating for his family interests certain political alliances that occasionally seemed in conflict with each other. Thus the man who, as the Archbishop of Reims, crowned successively Henry II, Francis II and this policy rendered him at times an enigma to his contemporaries. He is also held to be responsible for the outbreak of the Huguenot wars. Many libelous pamphlets aroused against him strong religious and political passions, from 1560 at least twenty-two were in circulation and fell into his hands, they damaged his reputation with posterity as well as among his contemporaries. A discourse attributed to Théodore de Bèze denounced the pluralism of the cardinal in the matter of benefices, under Charles IX, the Cardinal of Guise constantly alternated between disgrace and favour. In 1562, he attended the Council of Trent, possessing the confidence of his royal master. In the reform articles which he presented, he was silent on the last point, Pius IV was indignant, and the cardinal denounced Rome as the source of all abuses. In the questions of precedence arose between him and the Spanish ambassador, Count de Luna, Pius IV decided for the latter. However, in September 1563, on a visit to Rome, shortly after the death of Charles IX, the cardinal appeared before his successor, Henry III, but died soon afterwards, at Avignon. This article incorporates text from a now in the public domain, Herbermann, Charles

36.
Basilica of St Denis
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The Basilica of Saint Denis is a large medieval abbey church in the city of Saint-Denis, now a northern suburb of Paris. The building is of unique importance historically and architecturally as its choir, completed in 1144, the site originated as a Gallo-Roman cemetery in late Roman times. The archeological remains still lie beneath the cathedral, the people buried there seem to have had a faith that was a mix of Christian and pre-Christian beliefs, around 475 St. Genevieve purchased some land and built Saint-Denys de la Chapelle. In 636 on the orders of Dagobert I the relics of Saint Denis, the relics of St-Denis, which had been transferred to the parish church of the town in 1795, were brought back again to the abbey in 1819. Saint-Denis soon became the church of a growing monastic complex. In the 12th century the Abbot Suger rebuilt portions of the church using innovative structural. In doing so, he is said to have created the first truly Gothic building, the abbey church became a cathedral in 1966 and is the seat of the Bishop of Saint-Denis, Pascal Michel Ghislain Delannoy. Although known as the Basilica of St Denis, the cathedral has not been granted the title of Minor Basilica by the Vatican, Saint Denis, a patron saint of France, became the first bishop of Paris. A martyrium was erected on the site of his grave, which became a place of pilgrimage during the fifth and sixth centuries. Dagobert, the king of the Franks, refounded the church as the Abbey of Saint Denis, Dagobert also commissioned a new shrine to house the saints remains, which was created by his chief councillor, Eligius, a goldsmith by training. He composed a crest and a magnificent frontal and surrounded the throne of the altar with golden axes in a circle and he placed golden apples there, round and jeweled. He made a pulpit and a gate of silver and a roof for the throne of the altar on silver axes and he made a covering in the place before the tomb and fabricated an outside altar at the feet of the holy martyr. So much industry did he lavish there, at the kings request, the Basilica of St Denis ranks as an architectural landmark—as the first major structure of which a substantial part was designed and built in the Gothic style. Both stylistically and structurally, it heralded the change from Romanesque architecture to Gothic architecture, before the term Gothic came into common use, it was known as the French Style. As it now stands, the church is a cruciform building of basilica form. It has an aisle on the northern side formed of a row of chapels. The west front has three portals, a window and one tower, on the southern side. The eastern end, which is built over a crypt, is apsidal, surrounded by an ambulatory, the basilica retains stained glass of many periods, including exceptional modern glass, and a set of twelve misericords

37.
Marie Touchet
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Marie Touchet, Dame de Belleville, was the only mistress of Charles IX of France. Although born to a family at Orléans, the daughter of Marie Mathy. Her anagrammed name was even Je Charme Tout meaning I charm all, Henry III, King of Navare was responsible for this clever wordplay. By her late teens, she was mistress to Charles IX, in 1573 she bore the king a son, Charles de Valois. It would be his son, for just one year later the king died, at which time his and Maries son was entrusted to the care of his younger brother and successor. The new king was faithful to his brothers wishes and raised little Charles dutifully. Marie Touchet received a pension for her services to Charles IX, Marie went on to marry the marquis dEntragues, Charles Balzac dEntragues, and in 1579 had a daughter, Catherine Henriette de Balzac dEntragues. Catherine Henriette would follow in her mothers footsteps, later becoming the mistress of Henry IV of France

38.
Margaret of Valois
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Margaret of Valois was a French princess of the Valois dynasty who became queen consort of Navarre and later also of France. Charles IX arranged for her to marry a distant cousin, King Henry III of Navarre, and she thus became Queen of Navarre in 1572. In 1589, after all her brothers had died leaving no sons, Margarets husband, the senior-most agnatic heir to France, succeeded to the French throne as Henry IV, the first Bourbon King of France. A queen of two kingdoms, Margaret was subjected to political manipulations, including being held prisoner by her own brother, Henry III of France. However, her life was anything but passive and she was famous for her beauty and sense of style, notorious for a licentious lifestyle, and also proved a competent memoirist. She was indeed one of the most fashionable women of her time, while imprisoned, she took advantage of the time to write her memoirs, which included a succession of stories relating to the disputes of her brothers Charles IX and Henry III with her husband. The memoirs were published posthumously in 1628, Margaret was born Marguerite de Valois on May 14,1553, at the royal Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, the seventh child and third daughter of Henry II and Catherine de Medici. Three of her brothers would become kings of France, Francis II, Charles IX and her sister, Elisabeth of Valois, would become the third wife of King Philip II of Spain. In 1565, her mother Catherine met with Philip IIs chief minister Duke of Alba at Bayonne in hopes of arranging a marriage between Margaret and Philips son Don Carlos, however, Alba refused any consideration of a dynastic marriage. Margaret was secretly involved with Henry of Guise, the son of the late Duke of Guise, when Catherine found this out, she had her daughter brought from her bed. Catherine and the king then beat her and sent Henry of Guise from court. The marriage of the 19-year-old Margaret to Henry, who had become King of Navarre upon the death of his mother, Jeanne dAlbret, the groom, a Huguenot, had to remain outside the cathedral during the religious ceremony. It was hoped this union would reunite family ties and create harmony between Catholics and the Protestant Huguenots, traditionally believed to have been instigated by Catherine de Medici, the marriage was an occasion on which many of the most wealthy and prominent Huguenots had gathered in largely Catholic Paris. Margaret has been credited with saving the lives of several prominent Protestants, including her husband, during the massacre, by keeping them in her rooms, Henry of Navarre had to feign conversion to Catholicism. After more than three years of confinement at court, Henry escaped Paris in 1576, leaving his wife behind, finally granted permission to return to her husband in Navarre, for the next three and a half years Margaret and her husband lived in Pau. Both openly kept other lovers, and they quarrelled frequently, after an illness in 1582, Queen Margaret returned to the court of her brother, Henry III, in Paris. Her brother was soon scandalized by her reputation and behavior, and forced her to leave the court, after long negotiations, she was allowed to return to her husbands court in Navarre, but she received an icy reception. Determined to overcome her difficulties, Queen Margaret masterminded a coup détat and seized power over Agen and she spent several months of fortifying the city, but the citizens of Agen revolted against her, and Queen Margaret fled to the castle of Carlat

39.
Lord Chamberlain
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The Lord Chamberlain is always sworn of the Privy Council, is usually a peer and before 1782 the post was of Cabinet rank. The position was a political one until 1924, the office dates from the Middle Ages when the Kings Chamberlain often acted as the Kings spokesman in Council and Parliament. The current Lord Chamberlain is The Earl Peel, who has been in office since 16 October 2006. During the early period, the Lord Chamberlain was one of the three principal officers of the Royal Household, the others being the Lord Steward and the Master of the Horse. His department not only furnished the servants and other personnel in attendance on the Sovereign but arranged and staffed ceremonies. As other responsibilities of government were devolved to ministers, the ordering of the Royal Household was largely left to the taste of the Sovereign. To ensure that the reflected the royal tastes, the Lord Chamberlain received commands directly from the sovereign to be transmitted to the heads of subordinate departments. This duty was abolished under the Theatres Act 1968, the first London performance of the musical Hair was delayed until the act was passed after a licence had been refused. The Lord Chamberlain also undertakes ceremonial duties and serves as the channel of communication between the Sovereign and the House of Lords, the Lord Chamberlains Office is a department of the Royal Household and is headed by the Comptroller. It is responsible for organising ceremonial activities including state visits, investitures, garden parties and he also regulates the design and the wearing of court uniform and dress and how insignia are worn. Lords Chamberlain since 1399 to the present, List of Lords Chamberlain to British royal consorts Stephens, the Censorship of English Drama 1824–1901. Shellard, Dominic, Nicholson, Steve, Handley, Miriam, a History of British Theatre Censorship. The Lord Chamberlain - Royal Household official website Chamber Administration, Lord Chamberlain, 1660–1837 The Lord Chamberlain and censorship at The Theatre Archive Project

40.
Protestant
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Protestantism is a form of Christianity which originated with the Reformation, a movement against what its followers considered to be errors in the Roman Catholic Church. It is one of the three divisions of Christendom, together with Roman Catholicism and Orthodoxy. The term derives from the letter of protestation from German Lutheran princes in 1529 against an edict of the Diet of Speyer condemning the teachings of Martin Luther as heretical. Although there were earlier breaks from or attempts to reform the Roman Catholic Church—notably by Peter Waldo, John Wycliffe, Protestants reject the notion of papal supremacy and deny the Roman Catholic doctrine of transubstantiation, but disagree among themselves regarding the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist. The Five solae summarize the reformers basic differences in theological beliefs, in the 16th century, Lutheranism spread from Germany into Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland, the Baltic states, and Iceland. Reformed churches were founded in Germany, Hungary, the Netherlands, Scotland, Switzerland and France by such reformers as John Calvin, Huldrych Zwingli, the political separation of the Church of England from Rome under King Henry VIII brought England and Wales into this broad Reformation movement. Protestants developed their own culture, which made major contributions in education, the humanities and sciences, the political and social order, the economy and the arts, some Protestant denominations do have a worldwide scope and distribution of membership, while others are confined to a single country. A majority of Protestants are members of a handful of families, Adventism, Anglicanism, Baptist churches, Reformed churches, Lutheranism, Methodism. Nondenominational, evangelical, charismatic, independent and other churches are on the rise, and constitute a significant part of Protestant Christianity. Six princes of the Holy Roman Empire and rulers of fourteen Imperial Free Cities, the edict reversed concessions made to the Lutherans with the approval of Holy Roman Emperor Charles V three years earlier. During the Reformation, the term was used outside of the German politics. The word evangelical, which refers to the gospel, was more widely used for those involved in the religious movement. Nowadays, this word is still preferred among some of the historical Protestant denominations in the Lutheran and Calvinist traditions in Europe, above all the term is used by Protestant bodies in the German-speaking area, such as the EKD. In continental Europe, an Evangelical is either a Lutheran or a Calvinist, the German word evangelisch means Protestant, and is different from the German evangelikal, which refers to churches shaped by Evangelicalism. The English word evangelical usually refers to Evangelical Protestant churches, and it traces its roots back to the Puritans in England, where Evangelicalism originated, and then was brought to the United States. Protestantism as a term is now used in contradistinction to the other major Christian traditions, i. e. Roman Catholicism. Initially, Protestant became a term to mean any adherent to the Reformation movement in Germany and was taken up by Lutherans. Even though Martin Luther himself insisted on Christian or Evangelical as the only acceptable names for individuals who professed Christ, French and Swiss Protestants preferred the word reformed, which became a popular, neutral and alternative name for Calvinists

41.
Gaspard II de Coligny
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Coligny came of a noble family of Burgundy. His family traced their descent from the 11th century, and in the reign of Louis XI, were in the service of the King of France. His father, Gaspard I de Coligny, known as the Marshal of Châtillon, served in the Italian Wars from 1494 to 1516, married in 1514, and was created Marshal of France in 1516. By his wife, Louise de Montmorency, sister of the constable, he had three sons, all of whom played an important part in the first period of the Wars of Religion, Odet, Gaspard. Born at Châtillon-sur-Loing in 1519, Gaspard came to court at the age of 22, in the campaign of 1543 Coligny distinguished himself, and was wounded at the sieges of Montmédy and Bains. In 1544 he served in the Italian campaigns under the Count of Enghien, King Charles VIII, King Louis XII, King Francis I and was knighted on the Field of Ceresole. Returning to France, he took part in different military operations and that year he married Charlotte de Laval. He was made admiral on the death of Claude dAnnebaut, in 1557 he was entrusted with the defence of Saint-Quentin. In the siege he displayed courage, resolution, and strength of character, but the place was taken. On payment of a ransom of 50,000 crowns he recovered his liberty, the Coligny brothers were the most zealous and consistent aristocratic supporters of Protestantism in sixteenth-century France. By this time he had become a Huguenot, through the influence of his brother, the first known letter which John Calvin addressed to him is dated 4 September 1558. Gaspard de Coligny secretly focused on protecting his co-religionists, by attempting to establish colonies abroad in which Huguenots could find a refuge and they were afterwards expelled by the Portuguese, in 1567. Coligny also was the patron for the failed French colony of Fort Caroline in Spanish Florida led by Jean Ribault in 1562. In 1566 and 1570, Francisque and André dAlbaigne submitted to Coligny projects for establishing relations with the Austral lands, although he gave favourable consideration to these initiatives, they came to naught when Coligny was killed in 1572 during the St. Bartholomews Day massacres. Following the death of Henry II he placed himself with Louis, Prince of Condé, at the forefront of the Huguenot party, in 1560, at the Assembly of Notables at Fontainebleau, the hostility between Coligny and François of Guise broke forth violently. When the civil wars began in 1562, Coligny decided to take arms only after long hesitation and he was blamed by the Guise faction for the assassination of Francis, Duke of Guise at Orléans in 1563. In the third war of 1569 the defeat and death of the Prince of Condé at the Battle of Jarnac left Coligny the sole leader of the Protestant armies. Victorious at the Battle of La Roche-lAbeille, but defeated in the Battle of Moncontour on 3 October, he entered into the negotiations for what became the Peace of Saint-Germain

42.
Saint Bartholomew's Day Massacre
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The St. Bartholomews Day massacre in 1572 was a targeted group of assassinations and a wave of Catholic mob violence, directed against the Huguenots during the French Wars of Religion. Many of the most wealthy and prominent Huguenots had gathered in largely Catholic Paris to attend the wedding, the massacre began in the night of 23–24 August 1572, two days after the attempted assassination of Admiral Gaspard de Coligny, the military and political leader of the Huguenots. The king ordered the killing of a group of Huguenot leaders, including Coligny, lasting several weeks, the massacre expanded outward to other urban centres and the countryside. Modern estimates for the number of dead across France vary widely, the massacre also marked a turning point in the French Wars of Religion. Though by no means unique, it was the worst of the religious massacres. Throughout Europe, it printed on Protestant minds the indelible conviction that Catholicism was a bloody, the Massacre of Saint Bartholomews Day was the culmination of a series of events, The Peace of Saint-Germain-en-Laye, which put an end to the third War of Religion on 8 August 1570. The marriage between Henry III of Navarre and Margaret of Valois on 18 August 1572, the failed assassination of Admiral de Coligny on 22 August 1572. The Peace of Saint-Germain put an end to three years of civil war between Catholics and Protestants. This peace, however, was precarious since the more intransigent Catholics refused to accept it, with the Guise family, who led this faction, out of favour at the French court, the Huguenot leader Admiral Gaspard de Coligny was readmitted into the kings council in September 1571. Staunch Catholics were shocked by the return of Protestants to the court and they were also conscious of the kingdoms financial difficulties, which led them to uphold the peace and remain on friendly terms with Coligny. The Huguenots were in a defensive position as they controlled the fortified towns of La Rochelle, La Charité-sur-Loire, Cognac. To cement the peace between the two parties, Catherine planned to marry her daughter Margaret to the Protestant prince Henry of Navarre. The royal marriage was arranged for 18 August 1572 and it was not accepted by traditionalist Catholics or by the Pope. Both the Pope and King Philip II of Spain strongly condemned Catherines policy, the impending marriage led to the gathering of a large number of well-born Protestants in Paris, who had come to escort their prince. But Paris was a violently anti-Huguenot city, and Parisians, who tended to be extreme Catholics, encouraged by Catholic preachers, they were horrified at the marriage of a princess of France with a Protestant. The Parlement of Paris itself decided to snub the marriage ceremony, compounding this bad feeling was the fact that the harvests had been poor and taxes had risen. The rise in prices and the luxury displayed on the occasion of the royal wedding increased tensions among the common people. A particular point of tension was a cross erected on the site of the house of Philippe de Gastines

43.
Book of hours
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The book of hours is a Christian devotional book popular in the Middle Ages. It is the most common type of surviving medieval illuminated manuscript, Books of hours were usually written in Latin, although there are many entirely or partially written in vernacular European languages, especially Dutch. The English term primer is usually now reserved for books written in English. Tens of thousands of books of hours have survived to the present day, in libraries, the typical book of hours is an abbreviated form of the breviary which contained the Divine Office recited in monasteries. It was developed for lay people who wished to incorporate elements of monasticism into their devotional life, reciting the hours typically centered upon the reading of a number of psalms and other prayers. The Marian prayers Obsecro te and O Intemerata were frequently added, as were devotions for use at Mass, the book of hours has its ultimate origin in the Psalter, which monks and nuns were required to recite. By the 12th century this had developed into the breviary, with cycles of psalms, prayers, hymns, antiphons. Eventually a selection of texts was produced in much shorter volumes, many books of hours were made for women. There is some evidence that they were given as a wedding present from a husband to his bride. Frequently they were passed down through the family, as recorded in wills, the earliest surviving English example was apparently written for a laywoman living in or near Oxford in about 1240. It is smaller than a modern paperback but heavily illuminated with major initials, by the 15th century, there are also examples of servants owning their own Books of Hours. In a court case from 1500, a woman is accused of stealing a domestic servants prayerbook. Very rarely the books included prayers specifically composed for their owners, some include images depicting their owners, and some their coats of arms. These, together with the choice of saints commemorated in the calendar, eamon Duffy explains how these books reflected the person who commissioned them. He claims that the character of these books was often signaled by the inclusion of prayers specially composed or adapted for their owners. Furthermore, he states that as many as half the surviving manuscript Books of Hours have annotations, such additions might amount to no more than the insertion of some regional or personal patron saint in the standardized calendar, but they often include devotional material added by the owner. By at least the 15th century, the Netherlands and Paris workshops were producing books of hours for stock or distribution and these were sometimes with spaces left for the addition of personalized elements such as local feasts or heraldry. The book’s goal was to help his devout patroness to structure her daily life in accordance with the eight canonical hours, Matins to Compline

44.
Louvre Palace
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The Louvre Palace is a former royal palace located on the Right Bank of the Seine in Paris, between the Tuileries Gardens and the church of Saint-Germain lAuxerrois. Its present structure has evolved in stages since the 16th century, in 1793 part of the Louvre became a public museum, now the Musée du Louvre, which has expanded to occupy most of the building. The Palace is situated in the right-bank of the River Seine between Rue de Rivoli to the north and the Quai François Mitterrand to the south. To the west is the Jardin des Tuileries and, to the east, the Rue de lAmiral de Coligny, where its most architecturally famous façade, the Louvre Colonnade, the Cour Napoléon and Cour du Carrousel are separated by the street known as the Place du Carrousel. Some 51,615 sq m in the complex are devoted to public exhibition floor space. The Old Louvre occupies the site of the 12th-century fortress of King Philip Augustus and its foundations are viewable in the basement level as the Medieval Louvre department. This structure was razed in 1546 by King Francis I in favour of a royal residence which was added to by almost every subsequent French monarch. King Louis XIV, who resided at the Louvre until his departure for Versailles in 1678, completed the Cour Carrée, the Old Louvre is a quadrilateral approximately 160 m on a side consisting of 8 ailes which are articulated by 8 pavillons. With it, the last external vestiges of the medieval Louvre were demolished, the New Louvre is the name often given to the wings and pavilions extending the Palace for about 500 m westwards on the north and on the south sides of the Cour Napoléon and Cour du Carrousel. This consummation only lasted a few years, however, as the Tuileries was burned in 1871, the northern limb of the new Louvre consists of three great pavilions along the Rue de Rivoli, the Pavillon de la Bibliothèque, Pavillon de Rohan and Pavillon de Marsan. As on the side, three inside pavilions and their wings define three more subsidiary Courts, Cour du Sphinx, Cour Viconti and Cour Lefuel. The Chinese American architect I. M. Pei was selected in 1983 to design François Mitterrands Grand Louvre Project. The ground-level entrance to this complex was situated in the centre of the Cour Napoléon and is crowned by the prominent steel-and-glass pyramid, in a proposal by Kenneth Carbone, the nomenclature of the wings of the Louvre was simplified in 1987 to reflect the Grand Louvres organization. This allows the visitor to avoid becoming totally mystified at the bewildering array of named wings. The origin of the name Louvre is unclear, the French historian Henri Sauval, probably writing in the 1660s, stated that he had seen in an old Latin-Saxon glossary, Leouar is translated castle and thus took Leouar to be the origin of Louvre. According to Keith Briggs, Sauvals theory is often repeated, even in recent books, but this glossary has never seen again. Briggs suggests that H. J. Wolfs proposal in 1969 that Louvre derives instead from Latin Rubras, david Hanser, on the other hand, reports that the word may come from French louveterie, a place where dogs were trained to chase wolves. In 1190 King Philip II Augustus, who was about to leave on the Third Crusade, completed in 1202, the new fortress was situated in what is now the southwest quadrant of the Cour Carrée

45.
Maria of Austria, Holy Roman Empress
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Archduchess Maria of Austria was the spouse of Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor and King of Bohemia and Hungary. She was the daughter of Emperor Charles V and twice served as regent of Spain, Maria was born in Madrid to Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor and King of Spain, and Isabella of Portugal. She grew up mostly between Toledo and Valladolid with her siblings, Philip and Joanna and they built a strong family bond despite their fathers regular absences. Maria and her brother, Philip, shared similar strong personal views, on 15 September 1548, aged twenty, she married her first cousin Archduke Maximilian. The couple had sixteen children during the course of a twenty-eight-year marriage, while her father was occupied with German affairs, Maria and Maximilian acted as regents of Spain from 1548 to 1551 during the absence of Prince Philip. Maria stayed at the Spanish court until August 1551, and in 1552 the couple moved to live at the court of Maximilians father in Vienna. During another absence of her brother, now King Philip II, from 1558 to 1561, Maria was again regent of Spain and returned to Madrid during that time. After her return to Germany, her husband succeeded his father Ferdinand I as ruler of Germany, Bohemia and Hungary. Maria was a devout Catholic and frequently disagreed with her religiously ambiguous husband and she had great influence over her sons, the future emperors Rudolf and Matthias. Maria returned to Spain in 1582, taking her youngest surviving child Margaret with her, promised to marry Philip II of Spain, Margaret finally refused and took the veil as a Poor Clare. Commenting that she was happy to live in a country without heretics, Maria settled in the Convent of Las Descalzas Reales in Madrid. She was the patron of the noted Spanish composer Tomás Luis de Victoria, Maria exerted some influence together with Queen Margaret, the wife of Philip III of Spain. Margaret, the sister of the future Emperor Ferdinand II, would be one of three women at Philips court who would apply considerable influence over the king, Margaret continued to fight an ongoing battle with Lerma for influence until her death in 1611. Philip had an affectionate, close relationship with Margaret, and paid her additional attention after she bore him a son, also named Philip and they were successful, for example, in convincing Philip to provide financial support to Ferdinand from 1600 onwards. Philip steadily acquired other religious advisors

46.
Elizabeth I of England
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Elizabeth I was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death. Sometimes called The Virgin Queen, Gloriana or Good Queen Bess, Elizabeth was the daughter of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn, his second wife, who was executed two and a half years after Elizabeths birth. Annes marriage to Henry VIII was annulled, and Elizabeth was declared illegitimate, edwards will was set aside and Mary became queen, deposing Lady Jane Grey. During Marys reign, Elizabeth was imprisoned for nearly a year on suspicion of supporting Protestant rebels, in 1558, Elizabeth succeeded her half-sister to the throne and set out to rule by good counsel. She depended heavily on a group of trusted advisers, led by William Cecil, one of her first actions as queen was the establishment of an English Protestant church, of which she became the Supreme Governor. This Elizabethan Religious Settlement was to evolve into the Church of England and it was expected that Elizabeth would marry and produce an heir to continue the Tudor line. She never did, despite numerous courtships, as she grew older, Elizabeth became famous for her virginity. A cult grew around her which was celebrated in the portraits, pageants, in government, Elizabeth was more moderate than her father and half-siblings had been. One of her mottoes was video et taceo, in religion, she was relatively tolerant and avoided systematic persecution. Elizabeth was cautious in foreign affairs, manoeuvring between the powers of France and Spain. She only half-heartedly supported a number of ineffective, poorly resourced military campaigns in the Netherlands, France, by the mid-1580s, England could no longer avoid war with Spain. Englands defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588 associated Elizabeth with one of the greatest military victories in English history, Elizabeths reign is known as the Elizabethan era. Some historians depict Elizabeth as a short-tempered, sometimes indecisive ruler, towards the end of her reign, a series of economic and military problems weakened her popularity. Such was the case with Elizabeths rival, Mary, Queen of Scots, after the short reigns of Elizabeths half-siblings, her 44 years on the throne provided welcome stability for the kingdom and helped forge a sense of national identity. Elizabeth was born at Greenwich Palace and was named after both her grandmothers, Elizabeth of York and Elizabeth Howard and she was the second child of Henry VIII of England born in wedlock to survive infancy. Her mother was Henrys second wife, Anne Boleyn, at birth, Elizabeth was the heir presumptive to the throne of England. She was baptised on 10 September, Archbishop Thomas Cranmer, the Marquess of Exeter, the Duchess of Norfolk, Elizabeth was two years and eight months old when her mother was beheaded on 19 May 1536, four months after Catherine of Aragons death from natural causes. Elizabeth was declared illegitimate and deprived of her place in the royal succession, eleven days after Anne Boleyns execution, Henry married Jane Seymour, who died shortly after the birth of their son, Prince Edward, in 1537

47.
Letters patent
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Letters patent can be used for the creation of corporations or government offices, or for the granting of city status or a coat of arms. Letters patent are issued for the appointment of representatives of the Crown, such as governors and governors-general of Commonwealth realms, in the United Kingdom they are also issued for the creation of peers of the realm. A particular form of letters patent has evolved into the modern patent granting exclusive rights in an invention. e, the opposite of letters patent are letters close, which are personal in nature and sealed so that only the recipient can read their contents. Letters patent are thus comparable to other kinds of open letter in that their audience is wide, letters patent are so named from the Latin verb pateo, to lie open, exposed, accessible. The originators seal was attached pendent from the document, so that it did not have to be broken in order for the document to be read. Thus letters patent do not equate to a letter but rather to any form of document, deed, contract, letter, despatch, edict, decree. Letters patent are a form of open or public proclamation and an exercise of extra-parliamentary power by a monarch or president. Prior to the establishment of Parliament, the monarch ruled absolutely by the issuing of his written orders. They can thus be contrasted with the Act of Parliament, which is in effect an order by Parliament. No explicit government approval is contained within letters patent, only the seal or signature of the monarch, in their original form they were simply written instructions or orders from the sovereign, whose order was law, which were made public to reinforce their effect. According to the United Kingdom Ministry of Justice, there are 92 different types of letters patent. The Patent Rolls are made up of copies of English royal letters patent. In 1634, during the Thirty Years War, the Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand II became convinced that his general Albrecht von Wallenstein was plotting treason, on 24 January 1634 the Emperor signed a secret patent removing him from his command. Finally an open patent, charging Wallenstein with high treason, was signed on 18 February, in the patent, Ferdinand II ordered to have Wallenstein brought under arrest to Vienna, dead or alive. On the basis of patent, several of Wallensteins officers assassinated him and were rewarded by the Emperor. The form of patent for creating peerages has been fixed by the Crown Office Order 1992. Part III of the schedule lays down nine pro forma texts for creating various ranks of the peerage, lords of appeal in ordinary, gender-specific differences are highlighted in italics. In Commonwealth realms, letters patent are issued under the powers of the head of state

48.
County of La Marche
–
The County of Marche was a medieval French county, approximately corresponding to the modern département of Creuse. Marche first appeared as a separate fief about the middle of the 10th century, when William III, Duke of Aquitaine, gave it to one of his vassals named Boso, in the 12th century, the countship passed to the family of Lusignan. They also were sometimes counts of Angoulême and counts of Limousin, with the death of the childless Count Guy in 1308, his possessions in La Marche were seized by Philip IV of France. In 1316 the king made La Marche an appanage for his youngest son the Prince, several years later in 1327, La Marche passed into the hands of the House of Bourbon. The family of Armagnac held it from 1435 to 1477, when it reverted to the Bourbons, in 1527 La Marche was seized by Francis I and became part of the domains of the French crown. It was divided into Haute Marche and Basse Marche, the estates of the former continuing until the 17th century, from 1470 until the Revolution, the province was under the jurisdiction of the parlement of Paris. Aldebert II, son of Bernard I His daughter, also named Almodis, peter II of Bourbon Charles III of Bourbon, count of Montpensier, Beaujeu, Marche, and Forez, duke of Bourbon Prince Robert, Count of La Marche Marches Provinces of France

List of French consorts
–
This is a list of the women who have been queens consort or empresses consort of the French monarchy. All monarchs of France were male, although some women have governed France as regents,53 women were married to French monarchs,49 queens and three empresses. Ingeborg of Denmark and Anne of Brittany were each more than once. Marie Josephine Louise

1.
Eugénie de Montijo, the last Empress of France

2.
Marie Antoinette, Queen of Louis XVI was beheaded during the French Revolution

3.
Catherine de Medici served as regent for her husband and sons

4.
Ermentrude of Orléans

Coronation
–
The ceremony can also be conducted for the monarchs consort, either simultaneously with the monarch or as a separate event. A ceremony without the placement of a crown on the head is known as an enthronement. Coronations are still observed in the United Kingdom, Tonga, in addition to investing the monarch with symbols of state, Western-style corona

1.
The coronation of Charles VII of France (1429), detail of the painting Jeanne d'Arc (1886–1890) by Jules Eugène Lenepveu.

Vienna
–
Vienna is the capital and largest city of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austrias primary city, with a population of about 1.8 million, and its cultural, economic and it is the 7th-largest city by population within city limits in the European Union. Today, it has the second largest number of German speakers after Berlin, V

Austria
–
Austria, officially the Republic of Austria, is a federal republic and a landlocked country of over 8.7 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Hungary and Slovakia to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, the territory of Austria covers 83,879 km2. The terrain is mountainous, lying with

1.
First appearance of the word "ostarrichi", circled in red. Modern Austria honours this document, dated 996, as the founding of the nation.

2.
Flag

3.
Venus of Willendorf, 28,000 to 25,000 BC. Museum of Natural History Vienna

4.
"Heidentor" – Remains of the Roman military city of Carnuntum

St. Stephen's Cathedral, Vienna
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St. Stephens Cathedral is the mother church of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Vienna and the seat of the Archbishop of Vienna, Christoph Cardinal Schönborn, OP. Stephens Cathedral.5 metres below the surface, which were carbon-dated to the 4th century and this discovery suggests that an even older religious building on this site predated the St.

1.
St. Stephen's Cathedral in Vienna, Austria

3.
Watercolor by Jakob Alt, 1847

4.
"Christ with a toothache"

Charles IX of France
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Charles IX was a monarch of the House of Valois who ruled as King of France from 1560 until his death. He ascended the throne of France upon the death of his brother Francis II, after decades of tension, war broke out between Protestants and Catholics after the massacre of Vassy in 1562. This event, known as the St. Bartholomews Day Massacre, was a

1.
Charles IX around 1572, painted by François Clouet.

2.
Portrait of Charles IX shortly after acceding to the throne, by François Clouet.

Marie Elisabeth of Valois
–
Marie Elisabeth of France, was a French princess and member of the House of Valois. She was the child of King Charles IX of France. Her maternal grandparents were Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor and Maria of Spain, born at the Louvre Palace, she was loved by her parents despite their inevitable disappointment that she was not the male heir for wh

1.
Portrait placed ca. 1577/78.

Dynasty
–
A dynasty is a sequence of rulers from the same family, usually in the context of a feudal or monarchical system but sometimes also appearing in elective republics. The dynastic family or lineage may be known as a house, historians periodize the histories of many sovereign states, such as Ancient Egypt, the Carolingian Empire and Imperial China, us

1.
Charles I of England and his son, the future James II

House of Habsburg
–
The House of Habsburg, also called House of Hapsburg, or House of Austria, was one of the most influential royal houses of Europe. The throne of the Holy Roman Empire was continuously occupied by the Habsburgs between 1438 and 1740, from the sixteenth century, following the reign of Charles V, the dynasty was split between its Austrian and Spanish

1.
House of Habsburg

2.
Growth of the Habsburg Empire in Central Europe.

3.
A map of the dominion of the Habsburgs following the Battle of Mühlberg (1547) as depicted in The Cambridge Modern History Atlas (1912); Habsburg lands are shaded green, but do not include the lands of the Holy Roman Empire over which they presided, nor the vast Castilian holdings outside of Europe, particularly in the New World.

4.
Spanish branch's family tree with connections to Emperors' branch

Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor
–
Maximilian II, a member of the Austrian House of Habsburg, was Holy Roman Emperor from 1564 until his death. He was crowned King of Bohemia in Prague on 14 May 1562, on 8 September 1563 he was crowned King of Hungary and Croatia in the Hungarian capital Pressburg. On 25 July 1564 he succeeded his father Ferdinand I as ruler of the Holy Roman Empire

Maria of Spain
–
Archduchess Maria of Austria was the spouse of Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor and King of Bohemia and Hungary. She was the daughter of Emperor Charles V and twice served as regent of Spain, Maria was born in Madrid to Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor and King of Spain, and Isabella of Portugal. She grew up mostly between Toledo and Valladolid with

1.
Maria of Austria

Queen of France
–
This is a list of the women who have been queens consort or empresses consort of the French monarchy. All monarchs of France were male, although some women have governed France as regents,53 women were married to French monarchs,49 queens and three empresses. Ingeborg of Denmark and Anne of Brittany were each more than once. Marie Josephine Louise

1.
Eugénie de Montijo, the last Empress of France

2.
Marie Antoinette, Queen of Louis XVI was beheaded during the French Revolution

3.
Catherine de Medici served as regent for her husband and sons

4.
Ermentrude of Orléans

Matthias, Holy Roman Emperor
–
Matthias was Holy Roman Emperor from 1612, King of Hungary and Croatia from 1608 and King of Bohemia from 1611. He was a member of the House of Habsburg, Matthias was born in the Austrian capital of Vienna to Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor and Maria of Spain. Matthias married Archduchess Anna of Austria, daughter of his uncle Archduke Ferdinand

1.
Matthias

2.
Coronation medal of Matthias II with the Holy Crown of Hungary

Hofburg Palace
–
The Hofburg is the former imperial palace in the centre of Vienna, Austria. It was the principal winter residence, as Schönbrunn Palace was the summer residence. Since 1279 the Hofburg area has been the seat of government. The Hofburg has been expanded over the centuries to various residences, the imperial chapel, the imperial library, the treasury

1.
Hofburg Neue Burg section, seen from Heldenplatz. The statue of Archduke Charles is also pictured.

3.
Leopold Wing

4.
Reichskanzleitrakt (Imperial Chancellory Wing)

Roman Catholic
–
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church or the Universal Church, is the largest Christian church, with more than 1.28 billion members worldwide. As one of the oldest religious institutions in the world, it has played a prominent role in the history, headed by the Bishop of Rome, known as the Pope, the churchs doctrines are summ

1.
Saint Peter's Basilica, Vatican City

2.
St. Peter's Basilica, Vatican City

3.
Pope Francis, elected in the papal conclave, 2013

4.
Traditional graphic representation of the Trinity: The earliest attested version of the diagram, from a manuscript of Peter of Poitiers ' writings, c. 1210

County of Flanders
–
The County of Flanders was a historic territory in the Low Countries. From 862 onwards the Counts of Flanders were one of the twelve peers of the Kingdom of France. For centuries their estates around the cities of Ghent, Bruges and Ypres formed one of the most affluent regions in Europe, up to 1477, the area under French suzerainty was located west

1.
Count Philip (2nd from right) as swordbearer at the coronation of King Philip II of France. The count of Flanders was one of the 12 ancient Peers of France or "equals" of the King of France. Panel painting by Jean Fouquet, 1455

2.
Flag

3.
map of the county of Flanders from 1609 by Matthias Quad, cartographer, and Johannes Bussemacher, engraver and publisher, Cologne

4.
Institution of Baldwin I, the first count of Flanders by Charles the Bald, the Frankish king.

Ogier Ghiselin de Busbecq
–
Ogier Ghiselin de Busbecq was a 16th-century Flemish writer, herbalist and diplomat in the employ of three generations of Austrian monarchs. He was the son of the Seigneur de Busbecq, Georges Ghiselin, and his mistress Catherine Hespiel. He grew up at Busbecq Castle, studying in Wervik and Comines - at the time, all part of Spanish West Flanders an

1.
Ogier Ghiselin de Busbecq, 1557, 12.3 × 8.8 cm by Melchior Lorck

2.
Cover page of Turcicae epistolae, 1595 ed.

Elisabeth of Hungary
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Francis, by which she is honored as its patroness. Elizabeth was married at the age of 14, and widowed at 20, after her husbands death she sent her children away and regained her dowry, using the money to build a hospital where she herself served the sick. She became a symbol of Christian charity after her death at the age of 24 and was quickly can

2.
St. Elizabeth washing a sick man a scene from the main altar of St. Elisabeth Cathedral in Kassa, 15th century

3.
St. Elizabeth spinning wool for the poor by Marianne Stokes (1895)

4.
A statue showing the miracle of the roses in the rose garden in front of the neo-Gothic church dedicated to her at Roses' Square (Rózsák tere), Budapest.

Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor
–
Ferdinand I was Holy Roman Emperor from 1558, king of Bohemia and Hungary from 1526, and king of Croatia from 1527 until his death. Before his accession, he ruled the Austrian hereditary lands of the Habsburgs in the name of his brother, Charles V. Also, he served as Charles representative in Germany and developed useful relationships with German p

1.
Ferdinand I

2.
Ferdinand as a young boy

3.
Ferdinand in 1531, the year of his election as King of the Romans

4.
Coat of arms of Ferdinand I as King of the Romans, 1536, Hofburg palace, Vienna

Frederick II of Denmark
–
Frederick II was King of Denmark and Norway and duke of Schleswig from 1559 until his death. Frederick II was the son of King Christian III of Denmark and Norway and he was hailed as successor to the Throne of Denmark in 1542 and of Norway in 1548. As king, he visited Norway in 1585, when he came to Båhus, unlike his father, he was strongly affecte

1.
Portrait by Hans Knieper or Melchior Lorck, 1581

2.
Frederik II's coronation

Sebastian of Portugal
–
Dom Sebastian I was King of Portugal and the Algarves from 11 June 1557 to 4 August 1578 and the penultimate Portuguese monarch of the House of Aviz. He was the son of John Manuel, Prince of Portugal and he was the grandson of King John III of Portugal and Holy Roman Emperor Charles V. He disappeared in the battle of Alcácer Quibir, Sebastian I is

1.
D. Sebastião I; Alonso Sánchez Coello, 1575

2.
Portrait of Sebastian of Portugal; Alonso Sanches Coelho, 1562.

3.
Portrait of King Sebastian; Cristóvão de Morais, 1565.

4.
Portrait of D. Sebastian of Portugal; Cristóvão de Morais, 1572.

Catherine de' Medici
–
Catherine de Medici, daughter of Lorenzo II de Medici and of Madeleine de La Tour dAuvergne, was an Italian noblewoman who was Queen of France from 1547 until 1559, as the wife of King Henry II. As the mother of three sons who became kings of France during her lifetime, she had extensive, if at times varying, for a time, she ruled France as its reg

3.
Catherine and Henry's marriage, painted seventeen years after the event

4.
Henry, Duke of Orléans, by Corneille de Lyon. During his childhood, Henry spent almost four and a half years as a hostage in Spain, an ordeal that marked him for life, leaving him introverted and gloomy.

Philip II of Spain
–
Philip II of Spain, called the Prudent, was King of Spain, King of Portugal, King of Naples and Sicily, and jure uxoris King of England and Ireland. He was also Duke of Milan, from 1555, he was lord of the Seventeen Provinces of the Netherlands. Known in Spain as Felipe el Prudente, his empire included territories on every continent then known to E

4.
Titian 's portrait of Philip as prince, aged about twenty-four dressed in a magnificent, lavishly decorated set of armour. The whiteness of his skin corresponds to his white stockings and the greenish golden sheen on his armour. In this way, the prince's pale complexion appears more distinguished.

Huguenot
–
Huguenots are the ethnoreligious group of French Protestants who follow the Reformed tradition. It was used frequently to members of the French Reformed Church until the beginning of the 19th century. The term has its origin in 16th-century France, Huguenot numbers peaked near an estimated two million by 1562, concentrated mainly in the southern an

1.
Persecution of the Waldensians in the Massacre of Mérindol in 1545.

Habsburg
–
The House of Habsburg, also called House of Hapsburg, or House of Austria, was one of the most influential royal houses of Europe. The throne of the Holy Roman Empire was continuously occupied by the Habsburgs between 1438 and 1740, from the sixteenth century, following the reign of Charles V, the dynasty was split between its Austrian and Spanish

1.
House of Habsburg

2.
Growth of the Habsburg Empire in Central Europe.

3.
A map of the dominion of the Habsburgs following the Battle of Mühlberg (1547) as depicted in The Cambridge Modern History Atlas (1912); Habsburg lands are shaded green, but do not include the lands of the Holy Roman Empire over which they presided, nor the vast Castilian holdings outside of Europe, particularly in the New World.

4.
Spanish branch's family tree with connections to Emperors' branch

Speyer
–
Speyer is a town in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, with approximately 50,000 inhabitants. Located beside the river Rhine, Speyer is 25 km south of Ludwigshafen, founded by the Romans, it is one of Germanys oldest cities. The first known names were Noviomagus and Civitas Nemetum, after the Teutonic tribe, Nemetes, around AD500 the name Spira first a

1.
Speyer: Maximilianstraße with cathedral in the background

2.
Main street in Speyer with the Speyer Cathedral in the background

Ferdinand II, Archduke of Austria
–
Ferdinand II, Archduke of Further Austria was ruler of Further Austria including Tirol. The son of Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor, he was married to Philippine Welser in his first marriage, in his second marriage to Anna Juliana Gonzaga, he was the father of Anna of Tyrol, the would-be Holy Roman Empress. Archduke Ferdinand of Austria was the son

1.
Ferdinand II

2.
Archduke Ferdinand at a young age

3.
Philippine Welser, Ferdinand's first wife

Trier
–
Trier, formerly known in English as Treves, is a city in Germany on the banks of the Moselle. Trier lies in a valley between low vine-covered hills of red sandstone in the west of the state of Rhineland-Palatinate, near the border with Luxembourg and within the important Moselle wine region. Founded by the Celts in the late-4th century BC as Treuor

1.
View over Trier

2.
The Porta Nigra

3.
The Cathedral of Trier

4.
Palace of Trier

Sedan, Ardennes
–
Sedan is a commune in France, a sub-prefecture of the Ardennes department in northern France. The historic centre is built on a formed by an arc of the Meuse River. It is around 10 kilometres from the Belgian border, in the sixteenth century Sédan was an asylum for Protestant refugees from the Wars of Religion. Until 1651, the Principality of Sedan

1.
Sedan

2.
The Crown Prince 's Parade through Sedan, November 1917

3.
Castle in Sedan

4.
Center court of the castle

Henry III of France
–
Henry III was a monarch of the House of Valois who was elected the monarch of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth from 1573 to 1575 and ruled as King of France from 1574 until his death. He was the last French monarch of the Valois dynasty, as the fourth son of King Henry II of France and Catherine de Medici, Henry was not expected to assume the thr

1.
Henry III when Duke of Anjou by François Clouet

2.
Henry III by Étienne Dumonstier, c.1578

3.
The Siege of La Rochelle by the Duke of Anjou in 1573 ("History of Henry III" tapestry, completed in 1623)

4.
Henry III on the Polish throne, in front of the Polish Diet and aristocracy surrounded by halberdiers, 1574.

Francis, Duke of Anjou
–
Francis, Duke of Anjou and Alençon was the youngest son of Henry II of France and Catherine de Medici. An attractive child, he was scarred by smallpox at age eight and he changed his name to Francis in honour of his late brother Francis II of France when he was confirmed. In 1574, following the death of his brother Charles IX of France, in 1576, he

1.
Francis

2.
The Duke enters Antwerp, greeted by cannons.

Charles, Cardinal de Bourbon
–
Charles de Bourbon was a French cardinal. The Catholic League considered him the rightful King of France after the death of Henry III of France in 1589 and he was born at La Ferté-sous-Jouarre, in what is now the department of Seine-et-Marne, the eighth child of Charles IV de Bourbon, duke of Vendôme. Charles made a career in the Roman Catholic hie

1.
Portrait of Charles de Bourbon by an anonymous artist, 16th century.

Cloth of gold
–
Cloth of gold or gold cloth is a fabric woven with a gold-wrapped or spun weft—referred to as a spirally spun gold strip. In most cases, the yarn is silk wrapped with a band or strip of high content gold. In rarer instances, fine linen and wool have been used as the core and it is mentioned on both Roman headstones for women and in the Book of Psal

1.
Cloth of gold woven with golden strips

2.
The left inside panel of the Wilton Diptych (c. 1395–1399) shows a kneeling Richard II of England wearing a robe of cloth of gold and red vermilion.

3.
satin -weave cloth of gold, front

4.
satin-weave cloth-of-gold, back

Paris
–
Paris is the capital and most populous city of France. It has an area of 105 square kilometres and a population of 2,229,621 in 2013 within its administrative limits, the agglomeration has grown well beyond the citys administrative limits. By the 17th century, Paris was one of Europes major centres of finance, commerce, fashion, science, and the ar

1.
In the 1860s Paris streets and monuments were illuminated by 56,000 gas lamps, making it literally "The City of Light."

3.
Gold coins minted by the Parisii (1st century BC)

4.
The Palais de la Cité and Sainte-Chapelle, viewed from the Left Bank, from the Très Riches Heures du duc de Berry (month of June) (1410)

Charles, Cardinal of Lorraine
–
Charles de Lorraine, Duke of Chevreuse, was a French Cardinal, a member of the powerful House of Guise. He was known at first as the Cardinal of Guise, and then as the second Cardinal of Lorraine, after the death of his uncle, John and he was the protector of Rabelais and Ronsard and founded Reims University. He is sometimes known as the Cardinal d

1.
Charles, cardinal de Lorraine (1550) by François Clouet

2.
Portrait of Charles of Guise by El Greco.

Basilica of St Denis
–
The Basilica of Saint Denis is a large medieval abbey church in the city of Saint-Denis, now a northern suburb of Paris. The building is of unique importance historically and architecturally as its choir, completed in 1144, the site originated as a Gallo-Roman cemetery in late Roman times. The archeological remains still lie beneath the cathedral,

1.
West façade of Saint Denis

2.
West façade of Saint Denis, before the dismantling of the north tower (c. 1844 – 1845)

3.
15th-century painting by the Master of Saint Giles, showing St Denis saying mass before Charlemagne or Charles Martel with what is thought to be a largely accurate view of the abbey with a crux gemmata given by Charles the Bald and gold altar frontal, both destroyed in the Revolution.

4.
The north transept rose features the Tree of Jesse.

Marie Touchet
–
Marie Touchet, Dame de Belleville, was the only mistress of Charles IX of France. Although born to a family at Orléans, the daughter of Marie Mathy. Her anagrammed name was even Je Charme Tout meaning I charm all, Henry III, King of Navare was responsible for this clever wordplay. By her late teens, she was mistress to Charles IX, in 1573 she bore

1.
Marie Touchet, mistress of Charles IX of France

Margaret of Valois
–
Margaret of Valois was a French princess of the Valois dynasty who became queen consort of Navarre and later also of France. Charles IX arranged for her to marry a distant cousin, King Henry III of Navarre, and she thus became Queen of Navarre in 1572. In 1589, after all her brothers had died leaving no sons, Margarets husband, the senior-most agna

1.
Detail of painting by Pieter Paul Rubens

2.
The young Margaret of Valois, by François Clouet, c. 1560

3.
Henry of Navarre and Marguerite of Valois

4.
Margaret of Valois age 20, by François Clouet, c. 1573

Lord Chamberlain
–
The Lord Chamberlain is always sworn of the Privy Council, is usually a peer and before 1782 the post was of Cabinet rank. The position was a political one until 1924, the office dates from the Middle Ages when the Kings Chamberlain often acted as the Kings spokesman in Council and Parliament. The current Lord Chamberlain is The Earl Peel, who has

Protestant
–
Protestantism is a form of Christianity which originated with the Reformation, a movement against what its followers considered to be errors in the Roman Catholic Church. It is one of the three divisions of Christendom, together with Roman Catholicism and Orthodoxy. The term derives from the letter of protestation from German Lutheran princes in 15

1.
(The Ninety-Five Theses)

2.
The Memorial Church in Speyer, Germany

3.
Key figures of the Protestant Reformation: Martin Luther and John Calvin depicted on a church pulpit. These reformers emphasised preaching and made it a centerpiece of worship.

4.
The Bible translated into vernacular by Martin Luther. The supreme authority of scripture is a fundamental principle of Protestantism.

Gaspard II de Coligny
–
Coligny came of a noble family of Burgundy. His family traced their descent from the 11th century, and in the reign of Louis XI, were in the service of the King of France. His father, Gaspard I de Coligny, known as the Marshal of Châtillon, served in the Italian Wars from 1494 to 1516, married in 1514, and was created Marshal of France in 1516. By

1.
Gaspard II de Coligny

2.
Gaspard de Coligny, by the studio of Jan Antonisz van Ravesteyn

3.
Athore, son of the Timucuan king Saturiwa, showing Laudonnière the monument placed by Jean Ribault in 1562.

Saint Bartholomew's Day Massacre
–
The St. Bartholomews Day massacre in 1572 was a targeted group of assassinations and a wave of Catholic mob violence, directed against the Huguenots during the French Wars of Religion. Many of the most wealthy and prominent Huguenots had gathered in largely Catholic Paris to attend the wedding, the massacre began in the night of 23–24 August 1572,

1.
Painting by François Dubois, a Huguenot painter born circa 1529 in Amiens, who settled in Switzerland. Although Dubois did not witness the massacre, he depicts Admiral Coligny 's body hanging out of a window at the rear to the right. To the left rear, Catherine de' Medici is shown emerging from the Château du Louvre to inspect a heap of bodies.

2.
Admiral Gaspard de Coligny, the leader of the Huguenots

3.
Charles IX of France, who was 22 years old in August 1572

4.
This popular print shows the attempted assassination of Coligny at left, his subsequent murder at right, and scenes of the general massacre in the streets.

Book of hours
–
The book of hours is a Christian devotional book popular in the Middle Ages. It is the most common type of surviving medieval illuminated manuscript, Books of hours were usually written in Latin, although there are many entirely or partially written in vernacular European languages, especially Dutch. The English term primer is usually now reserved

1.
Book of hours, Paris c. 1410. Miniature of the Annunciation, with the start of Matins in the Little Office, the beginning of the texts after the calendar in the usual arrangement.

2.
Opening from the Hours of Catherine of Cleves, c. 1440, with Catherine kneeling before the Virgin and Child, surrounded by her family heraldry. Opposite is the start of Matins in the Little Office, illustrated by the Annunciation to Joachim, as the start of a long cycle of the Life of the Virgin.

3.
Even this level of decoration was more rich than that of most books, though less than the lavish amounts of illumination in luxury books, which are those most often seen reproduced.

4.
A full-page miniature of May, from a calendar cycle by Simon Bening, early 16th century.

Louvre Palace
–
The Louvre Palace is a former royal palace located on the Right Bank of the Seine in Paris, between the Tuileries Gardens and the church of Saint-Germain lAuxerrois. Its present structure has evolved in stages since the 16th century, in 1793 part of the Louvre became a public museum, now the Musée du Louvre, which has expanded to occupy most of the

1.
Night view of the Louvre Pyramid in the centre of the Napoleon Courtyard of the Palais du Louvre

Maria of Austria, Holy Roman Empress
–
Archduchess Maria of Austria was the spouse of Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor and King of Bohemia and Hungary. She was the daughter of Emperor Charles V and twice served as regent of Spain, Maria was born in Madrid to Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor and King of Spain, and Isabella of Portugal. She grew up mostly between Toledo and Valladolid with

1.
Maria of Austria

Elizabeth I of England
–
Elizabeth I was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death. Sometimes called The Virgin Queen, Gloriana or Good Queen Bess, Elizabeth was the daughter of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn, his second wife, who was executed two and a half years after Elizabeths birth. Annes marriage to Henry VIII was annulled, and Elizabeth was decl

1.
The "Darnley Portrait" of Elizabeth I (c. 1575)

2.
The Lady Elizabeth in about 1546, by an unknown artist

3.
The Miroir or Glasse of the Synneful Soul, a translation from the French, by Elizabeth, presented to Catherine Parr in 1544. The embroidered binding with the monogram KP for "Katherine Parr" is believed to have been worked by Elizabeth.

4.
Mary I, by Anthonis Mor, 1554

Letters patent
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Letters patent can be used for the creation of corporations or government offices, or for the granting of city status or a coat of arms. Letters patent are issued for the appointment of representatives of the Crown, such as governors and governors-general of Commonwealth realms, in the United Kingdom they are also issued for the creation of peers o

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Letters patent issued by Queen Victoria in 1900, creating the office of Governor-General of Australia as part of the process of Federation

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Letters patent issued by the United States General Land Office

County of La Marche
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The County of Marche was a medieval French county, approximately corresponding to the modern département of Creuse. Marche first appeared as a separate fief about the middle of the 10th century, when William III, Duke of Aquitaine, gave it to one of his vassals named Boso, in the 12th century, the countship passed to the family of Lusignan. They al

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Fresco of Approving of bylaw of Society of Jesus depicting Ignatius of Loyola receiving papal bull Regimini militantis Ecclesiae from Pope Paul III. The fresco was created by Johann Christoph Handke in the Church of Our Lady Of the Snow in Olomouc after 1743.

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Fête Organized to Celebrate the Marriage of the Emperor Joseph II to Princess Maria Josepha of Bavaria 23/24 January 1765. Painting by Johann Georg Weikert. The central figures are the three youngest siblings of Joseph, from left to right Archduke Ferdinand as the groom, Archduke Maximilian Franz as Cupid, and Archduchess Marie-Antoinette as the bride.

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The Arrival of Isabella of Parma on the Occasion of Her Wedding to Joseph II, 1760. Painting by Martin van Meytens.

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This painting by Eugène Isabey depicts Elisabeth, dressed more like a widow than a bride, swooning as she is led to the carriage that will bear her away from France to marry King Philip II of Spain. The Walters Art Museum.

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Presentation of the Honorary Prize of the Austrian Booksellers to Brigitte Hamann in the Vienna City Hall on 22 November 2012. To the left: the eulogist, Prof. Gerald Stourzh, to the right city councillor Michael Ludwig